What Cerić Responded to Accusations That He Would Introduce Sharia in BiH

In response to media reports that he is one of the key people to whom Islamists from around the world are attached, and accusations that he would introduce Sharia in BiH, as described in a report by the American Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), Dr. Mustafa Cerić, former reisu-l-ulema of the Islamic Community in BiH, wrote a comment on his official Facebook page, reports the Patria news agency.

We publish the comment in its entirety.

THE ENEMY NEVER RESTS!

Blessed is the country that, under the guise of friendship, is visited, protected and analyzed by various amateurs and quasi-experts who think they know everything, understand everything and have the right to lecture others.

Such is the report published by the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army College (SSI).

Of course, the views presented in the report do not necessarily reflect the official views of the American administration, whose long-standing presence and role in our country is of great importance.

Nevertheless, one must ask who are all the people in various diplomatic, military, governmental and non-governmental missions and organizations.

It would be funny if it weren't sad and dangerous..., wrote Dr. Cerić.

FORCES OF DARKNESS DO NOT REST

Dr. Cerić also commented on the writings on his official website:

It is sad that even more than 20 years after the outbreak of aggression against our country, resulting in genocide against Bosniaks in the areas of the former Yugoslavia, where no one can claim to have been innocent, there are forces that do not have peace and harmony in the Balkans in their interest.

This thesis is supported by the latest report of the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College (SSI), authored by Leslie S. Lebl, former political advisor to the EUFOR commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
The report is written tendentiously, extremely amateurishly and superficially, without serious and credible analysis, and with extremely strange sources of information that the author cites.
 
Also unusual is the fact that the report was written in May this year, published in June, so it is unclear why it took a full six months to reach the Bosnian-Herzegovinian public.
 
Also unusual is the coincidence that the report was published at a time when the police raided and for more than seven hours, in an extremely undemocratic manner, harassed the editorial office of the Klix portal, due to controversial texts about officials of the smaller Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity, as if these were the most important state problems today.
 
The only explanation can be the creation of instability in the already fragile political system of our country, which no one needs at this moment, except those who persistently try to destabilize the state for their own separatist interests.
 
As far as I and the Islamic Community are concerned, the allegations simply have no basis.
 
If it weren't sad, the ways in which the author tries to connect primarily me, but also the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with radical currents, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, would be laughable.
 
In no way do I feel guilty for being and, as long as I live, for contacting Muslims around the world, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, although I have never been a formal member of that organization.
 
Since when has there been a ban, an embargo, on us Bosniaks on the freedom to socialize and associate with Muslims in the world?
 
This report can only strengthen my commitment to the values of freedom, equality, democracy and moral integrity, which our people advocate, as well as our American friends, whose friendship I am proud of.
 
 
I also know that America has many faces (homo duplex), one of which is this sullen face towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, but this kind of sullenness towards our country is not an expression of the overall American attitude towards either Bosnia or Bosniaks, but rather a reflection of permanent anti-Bosnian propaganda through various lobbies of the destroyers of Bosnia, with the aim of equating the executioner and the victim.
 
I can say that I am proud of my work as reisu-l-ulema because, with the support of muftis, imams and all Muslims, as well as my colleagues and fellow citizens from other religious communities, I maintained the unity of my people, so that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq happened in my country.
 
I am especially proud of that!
 
I am proud that I prevented those who did everything to divide my community into sects, as well as those who, with the „green book“, wanted us in the Islamic Community to deal with ourselves and thus prevent us from dealing with the real issues, which, of course, includes constant reminders of the danger of genocide, especially from those who deny it (Milorad Dodik).
 
Therefore, if Leslie Lebl's report intended to praise me for maintaining peace and harmony among my people, as well as with other peoples, through my work at home and abroad, then I have nothing to say and I am grateful to her for her zeal in reminding me who I am, what I am and what I did.
 
I am proud of what I did and achieved fighting for the rights of my people, without denying the rights of all others, because I was aware that the unity, security, harmony and happiness of my people guarantee the same for all other peoples in my country.
 
I am proud of my work and I do not need to apologize to anyone.
 
I can say that there were measures regarding radical currents, but at no point was there a need, just as it is not customary anywhere in the normal, democratic world, for a religious community to account for, explain its policies and actions, and justify itself to international military forces or anyone else.
 
This does not mean that there were no contacts with EUFOR, so it is all the more surprising that the author of the report relies more on incompetent and dubious sources, rather than those for whom she was supposedly a political advisor!?
 
While citing Aleksa Đilas, the son of Milovan Đilas, who in 1992 warned about the rise of Muslim nationalism in Bosnia, the author accuses me of positioning myself as a defender of my own people against the separatist and nationalist policies of Milorad Dodik, and that I „present Bosniaks as victims in constant fear of Serbs“.
 
I do not know if in this way the author is trying to deny the Srebrenica genocide and thus insult the victims to whom even the American president paid his respects, and it is not clear to me why being on the side of one's people and one's country automatically means being an Islamic radical and an enemy of democracy and human rights, while those who violate the human rights of Bosniaks, almost 20 years after the war, are not even mentioned.
 
Although in almost every premise and conclusion the author of the report reveals her ignorance, this premise and conclusion is interesting because it suggests self-negation or assimilation for Bosniaks: „The well-known observer group, the International Crisis Group (ICG), recently concluded that the 'best contribution of the Islamic Community would be to help build a vision of Bosnia that Croats and Serbs can accept'“
 
That means, I do not know if Madame Leslie Lebl is aware, that Bosniak Muslims should renounce their faith, accept Serbian or Croatian nationality and renounce the right to a state.
 
I do not know if the author knows that Bosniaks had already agreed to all that once, but in return they received genocide.
 
Pardon, Leslie Lebl, that film will no longer be watched, just like the misrepresented Galijašević, who does not know what he is talking about, so his assessments are not relevant for serious and responsible people.  
 
I will not even comment on the parts of the report in which the author accuses me of attempting to impose Sharia, since it is more than obvious that the aforementioned person absolutely does not know what she is talking about. 
 
After such a cheap, sensationalist report, I rightly expect the author to be fired, since in this way she has harmed both NATO and America, and especially those she does not know, but against whom she has strong prejudices.
 
Finally, despite everything, my respect for the United States of America has not diminished and will not diminish, and no one will ever be able to make me hate the American people because the Americans had soul and heart in the most decisive moments for my people and my country and did a job for which all patriots of our country are grateful.
 
Therefore, those who try to make us hate our true and sincere partner in the fight against genocide, both in our country and in America, will not succeed.
 
Finally, Madame Leslie S. Lebl, allow me to extend a greeting on behalf of all Good Bosniaks: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!