Due to Vučić, SIPA arrested Almir Merdić in Jelah

SIPA arrested Almir Merdić, Elvedin Himzić and Mujo Dizdarević this morning in Jelah near Tešanj, who, according to the RS Ministry of Interior, participated in the attack on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić on July 11 in Potočari, during the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the Patria news agency has learned unofficially.

Serbian media, citing intelligence sources, had earlier identified Merdić as the organizer of the attack on Vučić, linking him to radical organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srebrenica war commander Naser Orić, and Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency Bakir Izetbegović.

Last week, in an interview with the Patria agency, Merdić denied any connection to the incident in Potočari. He admitted that at the time of the attack on Vučić, he was standing a few meters from the prime minister, but that in the photographs published by the media, he can be seen not participating in the disturbance, but rather filming the entire incident with a camera.

It is interesting that SIPA brought in Merdić and the others only ten days after the incident, even though their photographs were published the very next day, and Merdić and the others have been available to the police since day one. 

On Friday, July 17, the RS Ministry of Interior published on its website photographs of individuals from Potočari who were allegedly suspicious and who participated in the attack. One of them shows Merdić with his colleagues from Tešanj. RS Police Director Gojko Vasić stated that 20 people participated in the attack, and after today's arrest, further operations in the territory of the Federation of BiH are expected. 

The investigation into the incident in Potočari is being conducted by the BiH Prosecutor's Office.