Young man beaten by Serb nationalists in Prijedor: "Hooligans won't intimidate us"

Bosniak young men, who were attacked by Serb nationalists along with three other friends in the center of Prijedor on Tuesday night to Wednesday, say that hooligans cannot intimidate Bosniaks returning to their city.

Ajdin Puškar and his friends stopped early Thursday to eat in front of a local bakery when a group of Serb nationalists attacked them, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

- They asked us if we were Bosniaks. I tried to let them know that we didn't want a conflict – I smiled and turned away. A few seconds later, I felt a blow to the head, which knocked me to the ground. It all happened so fast – when I managed to get back on my feet, my friend was already lying in a pool of blood – Puškar told the news agency Patria. He added that things could have ended worse. The young man who was with them had medical implants in his spine. Just one blow to the back could have left him paralyzed.

The Prijedor police have classified the incident as a disturbance of public order and peace. They claim they cannot yet assess who is to blame for the attack. The attacked young men explain that there is video footage from surveillance cameras of nearby buildings, as well as eyewitnesses who will confirm who started the incident.

If politics doesn't interfere, the hooligans can be behind bars very quickly.

- We cannot blame an entire nation for what happened – says Puškar.

- Our cooperation with our Serb neighbors is good to a greater or lesser extent. That night, before the attack happened, I met many Serbs with whom I cooperate. Also, some of them offered us support after the incident. But, all of that is not enough for a normal life in Krajina. It is politics that must work to isolate these individual extremists who are causing problems – explains Puškar, adding that he tells the hooligans that Bosniaks will never give up their city. He calls on official Sarajevo to provide more support to returnees.

In the last 15 days alone, several serious incidents have been recorded in Prijedor, caused by Serb nationalists. However, what worries the returnees the most is that the local police are making insufficient efforts to protect them, writes Patria.

Extremists work in the Prijedor police

A group of fans from Bihać claims that the Prijedor police detained them after a friendly match between Jedinstvo and Rudar at the end of April this year, after which they were beaten and insulted simply because they were Bosniaks. One of the fans recounted that a Serb police officer approached him and said: "This is how we mistreated your father in the war." Other fans confirmed that police officers insulted them with words: "We will drink your blood, Turk," "I fuck your Muslim mother."