'Citizens of Banja Luka should report Radojičić'

By Armin Aljović

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Citizens of Banja Luka and NGOs should immediately sue the mayor Igor Radojičić and the city SNSD, because they have taken away their basic human rights.

Radojičić, completely unbelievably, announced that the City could enter into court disputes against the organizers of the rally “Justice for David“, who prevented New Year's concerts from being held in that city on December 30, “because the City suffered significant material damage.“

Željka Cvijanović stated that “it might take several years to restore Banja Luka's good image" and that she regrets the damage “both in economic and image terms, because due to the recent unrest, following the protests of the group 'Justice for David', they prevented Haris Džinović's New Year's concert from being held, which also led to the cancellation of New Year's performances in the open.“

In fact, things should be the other way around. The organizers of the rally “Justice for David“, as well as all free-thinking citizens and NGOs, should urgently file a report against Mayor Radojičić and the local SNSD, because by banning protest gatherings, they are violating Article 11 of the Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees that “everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association with others“, because they are violating Article 9 of the same convention, which guarantees that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience...“, because they are violating Article 6 of the Convention, which guarantees that everyone has “the right to a fair trial.“

Since the SNSD came to power in Republika Srpska and Banja Luka, basic human rights have been usurped. The Banja Luka police, directed by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, Dragan Lukač, arrested parents seeking truth about the death of their son, without them offering the slightest resistance. The footage of police torture during the protests in Banja Luka shows police brutality, not citizen brutality.

That beautiful city on the Vrbas is no longer mentioned for Marijan Beneš or Rudi Čajevac. Who still knows that the Italian cardinal, a triple doctor of science and apostolic nuncio of the Holy See, Guido Del Mestri, perhaps the first cardinal from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was born precisely in Banja Luka... World media have been reporting on Banja Luka for some time as an example of how not to behave. The Guardian published an article about “police arresting parents seeking truth about the death of their son“, CNN reported on local tycoon Radišić, supported by corrupt city, entity, and state officials, when he usurped the lungs of the city, 'Picin park', to build a construction complex. The media also covered the son of the first man of SNSD, Milorad Dodik, who received 3.5 million KM from the public budget “to walk around Banja Luka as a businessman and not as some drug addict...“

The group “Justice for David“ is not to blame for Banja Luka's image. Besides, if "Justice for David" had not mobilized the citizens to protest, who else, with such politics, could have sung, if not, for example, Ceca.