SDA: Shameful comparison of Alija Izetbegović with war criminals, Schmidt owes an explanation

(Patria) - The statement by High Representative Christian Schmidt that photos of Ratko Mladić and Alija Izetbegović in textbooks are an equal problem is scandalous, is the reaction of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA).

"It is unacceptable to mention these two names in the same sentence and equate them in any context. Ratko Mladić is a war criminal, finally convicted to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide, crimes against humanity, and other severe war crimes, and will forever be remembered as such.

On the other hand, Alija Izetbegović was the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country that defended itself from aggression, the supreme commander of its honorable Army, and a leader who, even in the hardest wartime, insisted on respecting international conventions, protecting civilians, human rights, and democratic values. For this reason, among others, he received two prestigious international awards for his contribution to democracy, and the Spanish newspaper 'El Mundo' declared him the world's 'Personality of the Year' in 1995.

Christian Schmidt surely knows all of this. That is why his statement equating such personalities is particularly offensive," states the SDA.

After the suspension of the Constitution and the exclusion of the Bosniak Vice President of the FBiH from the process of forming the government, Bosniaks and Bosnian patriots are now being attempted to be stripped of what is most sacred to them – honor and dignity – by comparing their great figures with a war criminal.

"We will not allow this. Good and evil, truth and falsehood, cannot be equated regardless of the unfair calculations of parts of the international community in BiH. Justice and truth are a necessary prerequisite for establishing lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region," states the SDA.