COMMENT Let's keep silent tonight

By Armin Aljović

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It would be most appropriate for Bosnia and Herzegovina to remain silent tonight. Let the Germans rejoice, let the French and Montenegrins rejoice... They fought and achieved for their own society, and we should remain silent. The year we are saying goodbye to is a difficult one, and the next one could be even harder.

Tonight, unresolved murders of two policemen and two young men hang over our heads. Dženan Memić (22) and David Dragičević (21) should have been celebrating New Year's Eve with their parents and friends tonight, and Adis Šehović and Davor Vujinović should have guaranteed their safety. Instead of that youth and such security, we have bitterness in our hearts. What have we, as a society, done to at least alleviate that bitterness, if we have already poisoned ourselves? Why don't we correct our mistakes? Do we deserve to sing tonight?

We are being led into 2019 by the same politicians who have been draining our blood in 2018. They are amateur nationalists and chauvinists. Their attitude towards citizens and Bosnia and Herzegovina is nothing less than maniacal. Nothing is sacred to them except their own greed for power and money. Their level is that of the criminal underworld.

Milorad Dodik is completely losing his mind. He sent a special police unit that beat and arrested parents in Banja Luka because they are seeking justice for a murdered child. His earlier statements after the murder of David Dragičević indicated such an attitude towards that family and citizens. The father, Davor, said: "You have torn out my soul and extinguished the festive candle." Dodik replied: "You have another son, you have a daughter." PDP leader Branislav Borenović cried out: "This government has led to the worst division among the people." Therefore, Dodik is no longer just against Bosnia and Herzegovina and its institutions; he has also turned against his own people who oppose him.

The arrogant power of politics in BiH is carried on the wings of force. The judiciary and police in Bosnia and Herzegovina are at the service of political parties. It has happened that the prosecution, which should have been on the side of the victim, has now openly joined the ranks of politics. The father of the murdered Dženan Memić in Sarajevo requested that the investigation into his son's murder be transferred from the cantonal prosecutor's office to the State Prosecutor's Office, because he does not trust prosecutor Dalida Burzić, with the process in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH also being conducted under the control of the international community and his lawyer Ifet Feraget. Whom should the citizens of this country trust if not the judiciary?

In normal countries, the highest police and judicial officials resign even for the smallest affair. We don't need to go far: Slovenian judge Ronny Abraham resigned from his position as arbitrator at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in the proceedings regarding the border demarcation between Croatia and Slovenia at sea, after it was revealed that the judge and a Slovenian diplomat had discussed presenting arguments and lobbying other judges in the proceedings on the border between Slovenia and Croatia. Canadian judge Robin Camp resigned after he carelessly asked the rape victim: "Why didn't you just close your legs and defend yourself from the rapist?" Or, German Minister of Defense Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg resigned from his position due to an affair that broke out after it became known that a large part of his doctoral thesis was plagiarized.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, no one even thinks of resigning. Videos are circulating on the internet of the Republika Srpska police director Dragan Lukač ordering the removal of prisoner Nedžad Dizdarević during the war in BiH, who was later killed. For four years, the media have been proving that the director of the Federal Police Administration, also named Dragan Lukač, has been in that position illegally and should have retired long ago, but SDA and Izetbegović keep him in power against all laws. The police commissioner of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Ilija Lasić, held his position despite a court ruling that his appointment was illegal, but HDZ and Čović, regardless of everything, wanted him at the head of the Herzegovina police. Border Police Director of BiH Zoran Galić was not dismissed even after ammunition and sniper rifles disappeared from the Border Police warehouse, along with all previous affairs and suspicions of abuse of official position in the employment of new cadets?

Therefore, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the highest state officials are appointed by politics to serve the needs of that politics, not the citizens. Retired General Blagoje Grahovac notes that it is no longer about serving even political parties, but individuals within those parties. And political parties have become prisoners of their leaders.

Marija Šerifović showed a human gesture. She canceled her concert in Banja Luka because she did not want to perform in a city where the authorities do not want to help the parents of the murdered David. Haris Džinović canceled his concert because he had no other choice. He showed sympathy out of necessity. Sarajevans will be welcomed into the new 2019 by Hari Varešanović, without too much empathy. For all of us, however, instead of singing tonight, it would be best to remain silent this night. Until we fight for a better and more just society.