Salkić visits attacked returnee Azrin Hodžić in Kozarac near Prijedor

(Patria) - Ramiz Salkić, Vice-President of the BiH entity RS, today, March 13, 2019, visited Azrin Hodžić in Kozarac near Prijedor, a returnee to this place, who was attacked two days ago in this city.

Hodžić was physically attacked, threatened, and insulted on a national basis and harassed at a scrap metal yard in Prijedor by a 31-year-old aggressor, who forced him to remove a sticker with the coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina from his trailer. During the visit, Salkić expressed support for Azrin Hodžić and his family, and offered him any kind of assistance, including legal aid and protection in conducting the proceedings.

- I call on the institutions to do their job. This is not an isolated case, but rather a product of a long-standing campaign conducted by institutions and media denying Bosniaks and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. If such situations are to be avoided in the future, the institutions of the entity and the media in the RS entity must stop conducting a provocative campaign directed against Bosniaks and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This shows that Bosniaks must be prepared for any kind of challenge and must have an adequate response to any kind of challenge.

It is unacceptable that scenes reminiscent of 1992 are repeating today, when people were deprived of their rights, when they were humiliated, harassed, taken to camps, and killed simply because they did not belong to a certain ethnicity and a certain political ideology. Therefore, it is important that the institutions do their job consistently and justly and adequately punish the perpetrator, so that it serves as an example for all others who think the same or similarly, said Vice-President Salkić, who also visited Hodžić's workshop where he engages in wood carving and production of various wooden items. Vice-President Salkić also visited the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Prijedor, where he spoke with Husein ef. Velić, the chief imam of Prijedor, and Edhem Delić, the president of the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Prijedor.

A visit was also paid to the Čaršija Mosque in the center of Prijedor, where offensive graffiti were recently spray-painted.