Belgrade is exerting pressure to stop the investigation against members of the BiH Armed Forces who participated in the referendum

Deputy Minister of Defence of BiH Boris Jerinić stated in the media that he issued the order for members of the Armed Forces of BiH to participate in the unconstitutional referendum in Republika Srpska on September 25. He also said that no one would be punished.

However, he did not clarify whether he ordered members to appear at polling stations in uniform, as seen in footage broadcast on TV N1, and what message that was intended to convey, writes the Patria News Agency. 

Jerinić, as warned by the president of the Joint Committee on Defence and Security of the BiH Parliament and former Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH, Sifet Podžić, does not know the BiH Defence Law.

- Article 5 of the BiH Defence Law states: "The Armed Forces may not be used for political purposes or for the activities of political parties," while Article 48 states:

"Members of the BiH AF, including generals, are neutral in political matters and shall not engage in any kind of activity of political parties, nor be elected or appointed to public office."

The TV N1 broadcast on September 25 shows two members of the Armed Forces of BiH arriving at polling stations in uniform. One of them was filmed entering the voting room, and it is clearly visible in the footage that his uniform bears the name N. Pavić.

This is Lieutenant of the BiH AF Nenad Pavić. He obeyed Minister Jerinić's order and appeared at the polling station. A disciplinary procedure is now underway against him, based on the footage, to determine whether the Code of Ethics and the BiH Defence Law have been violated. 

This is precisely what triggered the media frenzy, now originating from Belgrade and its media outlets, spreading disinformation that a witch hunt has been launched against Serbs in the BiH AF, and that someone allegedly reported N. Pavić anonymously!?

It is completely nonsensical to write that these are anonymous reports, when a lieutenant of the BiH AF, knowing that TV cameras were filming him, went to the unconstitutional referendum in the uniform of the BiH AF bearing his name.

And the propaganda goes a step further. Presumably thinking that many things are forgotten, they are trying to divert attention from this major political problem within the BiH AF by inverting the narrative, shifting the focus to the case of soldier Mirza Džidić from Zenica, who called for the rape of a female journalist on social media after she expressed her views on burqas.

They claim that an investigation is being conducted against N. Pavić, while allegedly no one has initiated accountability proceedings against Džidić.

We remind you that disciplinary proceedings were immediately initiated against Džidić, and the Ministry of Defence of BiH, i.e., the BiH AF, is cooperating with the BiH Prosecutor's Office in this case to determine whether, in addition to violating the Code of Ethics, there is also criminal liability. 

In addition, as reported by the Belgrade-based Blic, "they are trying to frame N. Pavić because he voted in uniform."

The real question is whether politicians from RS, who ordered N. Pavić and other members of the BiH AF who voted in uniform to do so, framed them with the aim of demonstrating that the BiH Armed Forces are not unified, and that they can control the Serb contingent and order members of the BiH AF of Serb nationality to withdraw from the unified army at any time. 

Furthermore, the activation of media from neighboring Serbia is proof that Belgrade is exerting direct pressure to stop the investigation, which was legally opened against members of the BiH AF who voted in the unconstitutional referendum in RS and were used for political purposes by political parties. 

In the news broadcast, at 24 seconds and 1:36 minutes, members of the BiH AF are seen voting.