Kajan calls for reaction: War criminal Slobodan Praljak glorified in Čapljina

(Patria) - Federal MP Sanel Kajan (DF) called on the authorities to react after an event was held in Čapljina glorifying the life and work of convicted war criminal Slobodan Praljak.

"In Čapljina, an event glorifying the life and work of convicted war criminal Slobodan Praljak was just held. Despite the final verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as well as domestic courts, crime is being celebrated in Čapljina today – under an illegal flag and an unconstitutional coat of arms, with the unveiling of a memorial to a person convicted of the most serious crimes against humanity. This act is a gross humiliation of all war victims, as well as an open violation of the laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Clearly and unequivocally, Article 145a of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that anyone who 'grants recognition, an award, a medal, any kind of reminder or any privilege to a person finally convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, or in any way glorifies such a person' shall be punished by imprisonment for at least three years.

What happened today in Čapljina represents a direct violation of the law of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an insult to international verdicts, and an open incitement of national and religious intolerance, thereby endangering public order and peace," Kajan stated.

As a member of parliament, he calls on the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, as well as the OHR and the European Union Delegation, to urgently react and initiate proceedings against the organizers and participants of this shameful event.

"The silence of institutions means complicity," Kajan said.