RS Police Continue to Unlawfully Fine Citizens for Displaying the Flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Patria) - Police officers in the RS have continued to penalize the display of the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina even after courts dismissed such orders and determined that showing the flag is neither a misdemeanor nor a criminal offense under current laws, reports Detektor.ba.

In the latest bulletin of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of the RS, information appeared that on Thursday, January 9, the day when the unconstitutional day of this entity was celebrated, police officers in Banja Luka stopped a driver from Jajce and saw in his Peugeot a "war flag with the coat of arms of the Army of BiH." It is explained that the flag was confiscated and the driver was issued a misdemeanor ticket.

At the end of last year, police fined a group of women while they were taking a break on Banja Luka's main square because they were displaying the flag of the former Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Police officers in the RS have continued to issue misdemeanor tickets even though there are at least two court decisions contrary to the misdemeanor findings and one criminal case regarding the display of the flag used in the early 1990s.

One such misdemeanor report was dismissed a decade ago, after veterans' associations in Bijeljina reported that the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was displayed next to the Atik Mosque.

Samir Baćavac, a councilor in the Bijeljina City Assembly, says he is not aware that, according to the RS Law on Public Order and Peace, the flag under which BiH was admitted to the United Nations is subject to punishment.

- This is all, in a way, an abuse of position by the RS police and, in a certain way, pressure on Bosniaks - Baćavac believes.

In 2021, Detektor reported that entity police had repeatedly fined citizens who displayed flags of peoples, entities, or the former state based on misdemeanor tickets for inciting national intolerance or insulting on national grounds, which legal and security experts deemed arbitrary and unlawful.

Sejfudin Tokić faced criminal proceedings for years for displaying the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but was acquitted in 2021.

- The European Court of Human Rights emphasized that if some individuals consider the flag offensive, shocking, or even "fascist," merely displaying it cannot disrupt public order nor justify punishment for it - explains Harun Išerić, senior assistant at the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo.

Išerić clarifies that the court stresses that the mere existence of negative feelings or even anger due to a displayed flag cannot constitute a reason for punishing the display of the flag - especially in cases where the flag in question has never been banned.

- The fact that someone considers the display of the flag a sign of disrespect does not constitute a reason or basis for restricting freedom of expression - Išerić says.

Public authorities would have to prove that there was actual public disturbance, a risk of insecurity, and especially must carefully examine the context, the meaning of the flag, and its capacity to incite violence against a social group by instilling deeply rooted and irrational hatred toward that group, which includes whether the person who displayed the flag was passive or active.

Išerić states that only then can public authorities be able to draw the line between speech that may disturb and is protected by freedom of speech, and speech that undermines the fundamental values promoted by the European Convention.

- It is highly questionable whether the legal basis for issuing misdemeanor tickets is in the right place - in accordance with the requirements of the European Convention, that it be predictable and sufficiently precise, so that citizens can align their behavior with domestic law and foresee sanctions in case of unlawful behavior - Išerić emphasizes.

Earlier, the RS police fined Nihad Aličković 100 KM because he posted a picture on Facebook with the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during a distribution of packages in Derventa. This founder of the group "Antidejton," which advocates for the unilateral abolition of the RS entity and whose posts often provoke a series of reactions, says that the MUP of the RS appealed when the first-instance verdict was in his favor after he did not accept responsibility for the misdemeanor.

- That verdict, that appeal went to the Higher Court in Doboj. And there, too, the Court ruled in my favor because it truly is not a disturbance of public order and peace - says Aličković.

A flag can only be a misdemeanor if its display causes serious disturbance to citizens in the place where it is displayed, explains lawyer Aleksandar Jokić.

- Flags that have entered the everyday folklore in BiH can hardly cause disturbance to citizens - says Jokić, adding that citizens can appeal misdemeanor tickets so that courts annul them.

The MUP of the RS refers to two articles of the Law on Public Order and Peace that penalize disturbance by quarrel, shouting, screaming, performing or reproducing musical content or texts, carrying or displaying symbols, images, drawings, or texts of indecent, offensive, or disturbing content, and other indecent or insolent behavior, as well as acts of grossly insulting another person on political, religious, or national grounds or other reckless behavior that causes a feeling of physical threat or disturbance among citizens, for which fines ranging from 100 to 800 KM are prescribed.

If any court confirms such a misdemeanor ticket, an appeal to the Constitutional Court of BiH is possible. The Constitutional Court of BiH confirmed to Detektor that it has never ruled on the display of the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the RS.

- The flag with lilies is not a national flag, but a symbol of BiH's history. A historical symbol of one state cannot offend anyone's national feelings, that is the essence - says lawyer Kadrija Kolić.

Nedžad Korajlić, former dean of the Faculty of Criminology, Criminalistics, and Security Studies in Sarajevo, believes that the politicization of flags must stop.

- We must calm passions, we must look clearly at this, time must sometimes overcome it, but in any case, I think it is not good on the part of the RS police, nor is it okay for citizens to possibly provoke or elicit certain reactions from the police to such behavior. That is my flag and I love it, but if it irritates someone in the area, I would not carry it in that area; I would carry it where it can be safe and I can be safe - Korajlić explains.

The mere fact that someone is shocked or disturbed when seeing the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not sufficient for punishment, because freedom of speech also protects speech that shocks or offends, Išerić emphasizes.

- Ultimately, I believe that punishing the display of the flag of the RBiH not only violates the human right to freedom of speech but also the Constitution of BiH in other parts - the article that speaks about the continuity of the state of BiH - Išerić concludes.