The Salafists, members of a ultra-conservative Islamic sect, are frequently used as scapegoats for all the negative developments in Bosnian society, said author and psychologist Srdjan Puhalo.

His new book “Salefije u BiH 2” (Salafists in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2) will be presented at Sarajevo’s Faculty of Political Sciences on June 22.

Puhalo conducted a study on how issues in regard to Salafists were covered on the news throughout 2017 and the frequent assessments about the group’s use of social media and their perceived inclination toward antisocial behavior and extremism.

“There is a public opinion that is created on the one side by political parties, and on the other by religious communities,” he said.

The issue is highly complex as Salafists are portrayed as the main culprits in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, while media often accuses them of bad things without a basis or facts, he said.

“Salafists are the scapegoats whom we blame for everything that’s bad in society,” he said.

This could change only if the issue would be assessed more responsibly and objectively by media and politicians, he said.

“They (Salafists) are not perfect, but we cannot blame them for what is happening thousands of kilometres away from here,” he said.