Police summon locals for questioning based on Facebook photos from Kruščica protest

The Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton is summoning locals who oppose the construction of mini hydropower plants on the Kruščica River for questioning, multiple locals from the village near Vitez confirmed to Patria agency.

The Ministry of Interior also confiscated private weapons from several locals, despite them having valid documentation for them.
Muris Đelilović told Patria agency yesterday that he spent more than three hours at the Ministry of Interior for questioning, after which criminal charges were filed against him, qualifying him as the leader of citizens disturbing public order and peace.

“They are trying to portray us as a group of criminals, not as decent and honest citizens who are defending their country precisely from the attacks of those whose intentions are not honest,” said Đelilović.

Four locals from Kruščica have already been fined a total of 1,200 KM for opposing the construction of mini hydropower plants.

Administrators of two Facebook pages, “Kruščica” and “We Do Not Support the Construction of Mini Hydropower Plants on the Kruščica River,” told Patria that the police summoned citizens for informational interviews based on protest photos they had published, and that they subsequently removed all protest photos from social media.

Locals of Kruščica have been blocking the construction of mini hydropower plants on the Kruščica River for days, as it is an area of exceptional natural beauty, as well as a water protection zone that supplies the largest part of Zenica.

“The authorities are trying to intimidate us with the help of the police. We tell them they will not succeed,” said Đelilović.

A few days earlier, the Special Unit of the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton broke up the protests using force, but the locals have not given up their rights even after that.

Locals blocked access to the Kruščica Riverbed again this morning.

The dispute between the locals of Kruščica and the investors has been ongoing for years. Đelilović accuses the former SDA mayor Advan Akeljić of granting concessions for some of the most beautiful parts of their village to the company HIGRACON d.o.o. Sarajevo.

“The story about the construction of two mini hydropower plants on the Kruščica River began during the term of Mayor Vlado Alilović. He did not want to grant concessions for the Kruščica River at that time, despite immense pressure from the SDA to do so. When Alilović left office, the river was granted concessions by SDA mayor Akeljić, and the current authorities continue to support the project,” said Đelilović.

The media previously reported that there are serious indications that the director of the Development Bank of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Salko Selman, is behind the construction of mini hydropower plants on the Kruščica River. Selman neither confirmed nor denied this information.

The director of the Sarajevo-based company HIGRACON, which is building these mini hydropower plants on the Kruščica, is Armin Hadžialić. The media previously reported that Armin’s brother, Sabahudin Hadžialić, was Selman’s advisor when Selman was the Prime Minister of the Central Bosnia Canton.

Selman’s family already has experience in mini hydropower plants. The name of the director of the Development Bank of FBiH has previously been linked to illegal activities in the media.

When asked by Patria agency journalists to comment on the events in Kruščica, HIGRACON director Hadžialić said he had no comment on the case.

The director of the Development Bank of FBiH, Salko Selman, neither confirmed nor denied being behind the construction of mini hydropower plants in Kruščica.

The Ombudsmen for Human Rights have opened a case regarding the Kruščica situation.