Premec: Rejecting Sidran, Latić and Brka is an Inquisition-like Procedure

The rejection of Abdulah Sidran, Džemaludin Latić and Amir Brka is a form of persecution and an inquisition-like procedure, says Vladimir Premec, one of the founders of PEN and a historian of philosophy, for the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

Speaking about how three prominent Bosnian writers, Sidran, Latić and Brka, were not admitted to the PEN Centre, he expressed his disagreement.

Otherwise, the current leadership of the PEN Centre has been in the public spotlight for months due to its questionable legitimacy and decisions that undermine the position of this otherwise highly respected organization worldwide. Sidran himself has stated that the PEN Centre was stolen from Bosnian writers and that it should be returned to those it belongs to as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Premec warns that these are understandable matters.

- I do not think it is good that Sidran was not admitted or that Mr. Brka is not supported or is being persecuted. Likewise, Mr. Latić was certainly not admitted and is being persecuted because he is a professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies. That is ugly; it is attributing a certain clericalism to Mr. Latić. In fact, it is a witch hunt and an inquisition-like procedure of the PEN Centre, incompatible with its policy and concept – said Premec.

He had previously expressed support for Abdulah Sidran, stating that by submitting an application for membership, Sidran confirmed the importance of this organization, but it did not reciprocate.

- However, what is happening now really looks to me like persecution based on the nature of one's thinking. I cannot imagine a PEN that quarrels; I cannot imagine PEN members who are in some conflict, and there are such. The fight for freedom of thought, the fight for ideas, does not mean being in conflict with an individual but being in conflict with injustice or a certain policy – said Premec.

Commenting on the structure of the PEN Centre, he said that PEN does not consist only of poets, but when it comes to poets, they should have special understanding.

- PEN itself is a broader organization than poetry or those who write poetry, novels, and so on. It does not consist only of writers but is a very broad organization, I would say a humanitarian organization in its entirety – states Premec. Support for Sidran was previously expressed by, among others, Alma Lazarevska, Ivan Kordić, Zlatko Topčić and Miodrag Živanović, NAP reports.