Mektić on Chetnik rally in Višegrad: Ban associations that display extremism

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Minister of Security of BiH Dragan Mektić told reporters in Sarajevo today that he held meetings with representatives of relevant agencies after the rally of the Ravna Gora Chetnik movement yesterday in Višegrad, and that the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be informed about everything.

„After that, we expect a reaction from the BiH Prosecutor's Office“, said Minister Mektić, adding that it is the Prosecutor's Office that must decide whether to launch an investigation into the entire case. 

Mektić said that if any association in its activities displays a certain type of extremism, such an association should be banned from operating and removed from the register of citizens' associations. 

„That is not the competence of the Ministry of Security of BiH, it is the competence of other institutions“, said Mektić.    

Members of the Ravna Gora Chetnik movement in Višegrad marked on Sunday the anniversary of the arrest of Chetnik general and World War II war criminal Dragoljub Draža Mihailović. The Chetniks lined up in the center of Višegrad on Sunday morning, from where the song „There will be hell again and the bloody Drina, here come the Chetniks from the Serbian mountains“ was heard. 

The American and British embassies in BiH reacted by calling on institutions to „take the necessary steps, address these threats and call to account.“ Condemnations for spreading inter-ethnic hatred also came from the OHR and OSCE, as well as numerous political parties from the Federation of BiH.

On the official Twitter account of the OHR, it was stated that the OHR condemns the shameful events in Višegrad. They called on the competent institutions to investigate and take appropriate actions against those responsible for hate speech. "Events in Višegrad have no place in BiH society, reconciliation is the only path to the future“, it was stated from the OHR.