Parents of children from Konjević Polje file an appeal: The Bosnian language exists!

Against the verdict of the Basic Court in Banja Luka and the rejection of the request of parents and students from Konjević Polje regarding the deprivation of the right to education in the Bosnian language, parents and students from Konjević Polje will file an appeal with the District Court in Banja Luka, said their lawyer Nedim Ademović, as reported by the Patria news agency.

The Basic Court in Banja Luka issued a verdict on January 12, rejecting the lawsuit of parents and students from Konjević Polje regarding the determination of discrimination concerning the right to education in the Bosnian language.

“The court, among other things, concluded in its verdict that the temporary Agreement on meeting the special needs and rights of returnee children, signed in 2002 between the two entity ministries of education, is no longer applied and has no effect,” stated in the announcement of lawyer Ademović.

Furthermore, it was stated that the plaintiffs failed to prove that in the Republic of Srpska and at the “Petar Đokić” Elementary School in Konjević Polje, teaching is not conducted exclusively in the Serbian language, that there are no official textbooks only in the Serbian language and Cyrillic script, and that teachers and instructors do not hold classes in the Serbian language.

“Also, the court determined that in the RS, the 'Bosnian language' does not legally exist, but only the 'language of the Bosniak people.' The verdict states that the differences between all three official languages are not even the slightest communication barrier between children,” the announcement says.

The Banja Luka court, referring to the opinion of certain linguists, pointed out that it is the 'same language' that is called differently, and the name of the language cannot be a reason for discrimination. Consequently, as Ademović states, the court also rejected the claims that the plaintiffs' right to sustainable return to the BiH entity of the RS and the right to nurture their own identity were violated.

Lawyer Ademović believes that there has been a denial of the right to the Bosnian language, denial of the right to education in the Bosnian language, and denial of the right to textbooks and instruction in the Bosnian language for those whose mother tongue it is, and announced an appeal to a higher court, writes Fokus.