Due to threats of genocide, SDA Sandžak withdraws from referendum

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Sandžak will not participate in the scheduled referendum on January 16 this year in Serbia and is withdrawing all its representatives from the referendum process, it was announced at a press conference of the party.

The president of SDA Sandžak, Sulejman Ugljanin, said that the decision was made at a session of the party's presidency, which discussed the incident in Priboj when members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs sang nationalist songs at a celebration, insulting the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica and other victims, and that this is a "direct genocidal threat to the Bosniaks of Sandžak from the state leadership".

- We do not want to participate in creating the illusion that the situation is normal and that nothing dangerous is happening or being prepared for the Bosniaks of Sandžak. This cosmetic referendum is a planned deception to distract the citizens of Sandžak from the danger being prepared for them - Ugljanin stated.

Ugljanin said that this is a message that, in addition to the denial of genocide by the current Serbian regime, organized mass crimes against Bosniaks committed in the early nineties by Serbian armed forces in the villages of Kukurovići, Sjeverin, Štrpci, and Bukovica near Pljevlja, await the remaining Bosniaks of Sandžak, primarily in Novi Pazar and Sjenica.

He requested that this referendum be postponed until, as he emphasized, lustration is carried out in the Serbian police, judicial bodies, and security services, as well as in the armed forces of the Republic of Serbia, which, in his assessment, are directly responsible for this situation and hostility towards Bosniaks.

Ugljanin reiterated the position of SDA Sandžak, which calls for the harmonization of the national structure of employees in prosecutor's offices, courts, police, and other security services, in all cities of Sandžak, in accordance with the national structure of the population.

- We call on the European Union and the USA to continue the international conference on resolving the Yugoslav crisis, which was interrupted by the Dayton Conference, while the Greater Serbian aggression against Bosniaks continues continuously, through other means. We urgently seek mechanisms to ensure that crimes in Sandžak are never repeated, and the adoption of the Resolution on the Genocide in Srebrenica, which our parliamentary group has proposed for consideration and adoption several times in the Serbian Parliament - he said, adding that this resolution foresees clear mechanisms and steps to prevent "the re-creation of the consciousness that crime is a permissible means of achieving national goals".

The leader of SDA Sandžak welcomed the condemnations of the mentioned incident by parties and organizations of democratic orientation in Serbia and stated that SDA Sandžak wants to build institutions and mechanisms for preserving and improving inter-ethnic harmony in Sandžak.

He stated that all Bosniak parties are obliged to have a common approach in protecting the vital interests of the Bosniak people.

On social networks on January 2, a video appeared of a celebration in Priboj where several members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs from that city participated, singing nationalist songs.

The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs condemned such behavior today and stated that disciplinary proceedings are underway against the police officers from the video.

In Serbia, on January 16, 2022, a referendum will be held to confirm the Act on Amendments to the Constitution related to the future election of judges and prosecutors, adopted on the recommendation of the Venice Commission.