Prosecutor's Office Decision: Displaying Ratko Mladić's Poster is Not a Criminal Offense

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Mayor of East Novo Sarajevo Municipality, Ljubiša Ćosić, will not face criminal charges for displaying posters of Ratko Mladić, a convicted war criminal, on the Municipality building, reports the Patria News Agency. This is the decision of the District Public Prosecutor's Office in East Sarajevo, following a report filed by the City of Sarajevo.

The report from the City of Sarajevo stated that Ćosić, by his order of February 24, 2018, for the display of posters with the image of Ratko Mladić, committed the criminal offense of publicly inciting violence and hatred. The report also emphasized that such an act "grossly violated the national feelings of others, primarily Bosniaks, who are also a constituent people in both the RS entity and the entire BiH," which, according to the report, makes this act nothing more than public incitement of inter-ethnic hatred and intolerance, which is highly unnecessary and dangerous in BiH.

Following the report, the Prosecutor's Office requested the East Novo Sarajevo Police Station to collect evidence. The investigation determined that Ćosić had granted the premises where the poster with Mladić's image was displayed to the Veterans' Organization, and that he had no authority over that organization, thus he did not give any verbal or written order for the poster to be displayed.

Furthermore, at the Prosecutor's Office, Slaviša Slijepčević, head of the Communal Police of East Novo Sarajevo Municipality, stated that the communal police do not have the authority to remove these types of posters, as the poster is on the inside and is commercial in nature. Vaso Elez, secretary of the Veterans' Organization of East Novo Sarajevo Municipality, told the police officers that they had voluntarily put up the posters.

Once they determined that Ćosić was not the superior in the Veterans' Organization, the police noted in the case file that the displayed photographs did not cause public unrest in East Novo Sarajevo in the form of public gatherings or other expressions of dissatisfaction.

"The Prosecutor's Office objectively accepts the possibility that the published photograph of Mladić could cause dissatisfaction and discomfort among members of other nationalities (primarily Bosniaks), however, for the existence of the criminal offense of 'Public Incitement and Instigation of Violence and Hatred,' it is not enough to merely cause such a feeling, but it is necessary that by publishing such a photograph, one 'calls for violence or hatred directed towards a specific person due to their national, religious, or ethnic affiliation,' and in the context of this case, the reason given for publishing the photograph in question was 'support for Ratko Mladić, who was the commander of the VRS, and whose verdict was to be delivered in The Hague at that time,'" stated the Prosecutor's Office.