Parents of children denied school transport by Bošković: Solve the problem or face criminal charges

(Patria) - Parents of students at the First Primary School in Stolac, where classes are held according to the Bosnian curriculum, along with the Civic Platform Stolac, are loudly issuing an ultimatum to the Mayor of Stolac, Stjepan Bošković, to immediately sign the contract with the bus carrier and end the humiliating and discriminatory practice of denying transport to children of Bosniak nationality, the Stolac glasno Association announced.

"For several days, more than 180 students from suburban settlements and surrounding villages have been prevented from attending classes, thereby directly denying children's fundamental rights – the right to education and equal treatment. Such arbitrariness by the mayor represents a gross violation of the law, international conventions on the rights of the child, and fundamental human values.

If our children lose even one more 45-minute school lesson due to the mayor's capricious and politically motivated decision, at least 500 indignant parents and citizens will gather in front of the Stolac City Administration building, blocking its entrance and thereby expressing their defiance and dignity.

Stolac is not and will not be a city of divided rights!

This is not the first time that the Bosniaks of Stolac have been treated as second-class citizens. For years, we have witnessed institutional discrimination, political arbitrariness, and selective distribution of public resources, from employment, funding of associations and cultural events, to spatial planning and communal infrastructure.

Now, for who knows what time, children – the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society – are under attack.

Mayor Bošković, no position gives you the right to humiliate children and parents. Your signature costs nothing, but your silence and stubbornness cost the future of an entire generation. Patience and forbearance are the mark of tolerant people, but even that has its limits. You have long crossed that limit, Mr. Mayor.

Parents and the Civic Platform are seriously considering filing criminal charges against the mayor for conscious obstruction of classes, abuse of office, and denial of a child's fundamental right – the right to education.

Such behavior represents the moral and legal bottom of local politics, and Stolac does not deserve to be led by people who will humiliate the most sensitive and vulnerable category – children – in such a insidious and perfidious way!

We will not give up. Our children will not be hostages of politics and hatred," the statement from the Stolac glasno Association reads.