Here comes TOMA, the water cannon: Katica guards power in threes with tear gas and paint, and Sarajevo streets see a remake of 'See You in the Obituary'

By: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

While unable to explain the poor security situation to the public in Sarajevo Canton, while unable to adequately respond to criticism about the procurement of helicopters of questionable quality, Admir Katica should, though it is questionable if he would know how, answer the question of why the Rulebook on the manner and procedure of the use and justification of police force has been changed.

Under the table, it would seem, Katica made changes to the aforementioned Rulebook on the use and justification of force at the beginning of March this year, specifically in the segment related to the use of water cannons. The MUP KS received the special-purpose vehicle TOMA sometime in July last year, and Minister Katica was apparently bored with having a water cannon that only shoots water, so he decided to change that, regardless of the fact that his decision is more reminiscent of decisions made by totalitarian governments than by any European Troika.

TOMA is generally of serious interest to Minister Katica and others in the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Internal Affairs, so at every match of Sarajevo's Premier League football clubs, we see TOMA somewhere at the foot of the stands, ready to disperse the few spectators who dared to come to a match in this insecure city.

And due to the changes Katica made to the Rulebook, TOMA will no longer fire only water, but also a chemical agent (tear gas) and paint (presumably green or some shade of yellow) to properly mark rioters.

What will the autocratic government, like the current one in Sarajevo Canton, which hides the truth about its work from the citizens, about our money used to pay the Chinese for rails, about borrowing and inevitable debt slavery, about the functioning of the entire system, be afraid of?

Of course, they fear the actions of the people the most, and the amount of that fear dictates the need to use a chemical agent (tear gas) fired in combination with water from a water cannon mounted on a TOMA vehicle as a means of maintaining order and peace in the 21st century.

And when the tear gas does its job, they will use paint to mark the demonstrators who should be prosecuted – those who dared to raise their voice against a government that is the worst reincarnation of authoritarian regimes of the past.

What is interesting is that in the Rulebook on the Use of Force, signed in December 2019 by, guess who – well, of course, Admir Katica – neither the chemical agent nor the paint are mentioned, because back then the water cannon was a fire truck, and now a lethal TOMA has been purchased to convince the unbelievers that the Troika is a project from utopian dreams, sent down to us earthlings to bring prosperity.

And before and after TOMA, armed battles are being fought on the streets of Sarajevo, the kind we used to see in the streets of Belgrade or other world cities in the nineties. Shots are being fired, and some new Knele is clearly preparing to direct a Sarajevo replica of the film "See You in the Obituary" one day.

Because, thanks to the complete ignorance and incompetence of Minister Katica, the MUP KS Police Commissioner Fatmir Hajdarević, and the parliamentary majority of the Troika project, the possibility of getting hurt on the streets of Sarajevo has become comparable to the possibility in Brazilian favelas.

And instead of organizing an emergency response team, creating a short-term and medium-term plan to combat rising crime, and calling for expert assistance, the Minister of Insecurity in Sarajevo Canton, Admir Katica, is busy devising a strategy for dispersing demonstrators when demonstrations eventually occur.

And Katica knows, just as we know, that one of the most incompetent governments in KS will inevitably face demonstrations as a gong of conscience that will limit its lifespan. Because these are not favelas, nor is Sarajevo Belgrade.

This is a city that has seen enough obituaries of its children who have woven their lives into its survival. And this city deserves a government that will enable every child of today to live in a normal, healthy, and safe environment. What the current government offers is clearly far from all of that.

Katica knows this, but then he would also have to know that in Sarajevo, when we get tired of them shooting at us, we start shooting. First, we lose our temper, then everything else follows. And therefore, it is wiser for him to deal with crime instead of preparing colored chemical elements for water cannons.

Because, if he reaches the moment when the citizens of this city lose their temper, neither TOMA nor the fact that we know who the sponsors of the government in white are, who guard Katica in blue, will help him. It won't help them even if kum Murphy gets involved.