Two persons arrested in Sarajevo and handed over to the MUP of the Central Bosnia Canton due to the incident at Pješčara

(Patria) - The Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton announced that on Saturday around 3 p.m., police officers of the Stari Grad Police Station deprived two men of liberty, for whom the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton had issued a search warrant on suspicion of committing the criminal offense of inciting national and religious hatred, discord or intolerance under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The arrested are A. M. (49) and E. P. (61) from Sarajevo, who were handed over to police officers of the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton in Travnik.

A video recording appeared on social media, made at the plateau of the memorial site at the "Pješčara" location near Travnik, which sparked strong reactions from the public, as well as a response from the police.

The Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton also commented on this incident.

"On July 19, around 11 a.m., the Travnik Police Station received a report that a video recording had appeared on the social network Tik-Tok showing that on July 18, around 2:14 p.m., several unknown persons came to the plateau of the memorial site for fallen Croatian defenders 'Pješčara' and that on that occasion, among other things, they called on Matans – Croats to come and 'kill each other,' along with various threats and provocations," the statement said.

Immediately upon receiving the report, police officers, in cooperation with the competent cantonal prosecutor's office, proceeded to take measures and actions within their jurisdiction, during which they identified two persons from the disputed video, and the existence of elements of the criminal offense of 'Expressing national, racial and religious hatred, discord or intolerance' is being determined.

The aforementioned two persons are not from the area of the Central Bosnia Canton, and cooperation is being established with police officers from other cantonal ministries of interior. Police officers are also taking other measures and actions aimed at maintaining a favorable security situation in the area of our canton, including clarifying all facts and circumstances related to the reported incident," the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton stated.