The protest over the unresolved death of David Dragicevic in Banja Luka is “the fifth phase” of a “colour revolution,” an advisor to Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik told N1 on Friday.
The Prosecutor’s Office should regain control over the David Dragicevic case and in this way stop the ‘colour revolution,’ said Srdjan Perisic, a political science professor at a Belgrade faculty who now advises the Bosnian Serb member of the tripartite Presidency.
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He said that this ‘colour revolution’ has infiltrated universities and its goal is to forcefully topple the government of Republika Srpska, Bosnia’s semi-autonomous Serb-dominated entity.
Perisic spoke about the protest over the unresolved murder of 21-year-old David Dragicevic. Citizens have been gathering at the Central Krajina Square in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of Republika Srpska (RS), since March, when Dragicevic’s body was found at a nearby river bank.
Initially, police said that he had taken drugs and drowned in a nearby river. This explanation sparked public outrage and angered the young man’s father, Davor, who swore he would pursue justice no matter what.
Davor Dragicevic believes police is covering up the murder and protecting some politically connected suspects.
His supporters established the ‘Justice for David’ group and began calling the square where they were gathering every day ‘David’s Square’. They are demanding the truth about the murder and justice for David Dragicevic.
The gatherings have over time turned into an ongoing anti-government protest and have prompted people in other Bosnian cities as well as in neighbouring countries to gather in support for the Banja Luka movement.
On Tuesday, police cleared the square and detained Davor Dragicevic, David’s mother, Suzana Radanovic, and several opposition politicians and members of the Justice for David group.
The operation caused a scuffle between police and citizens at the scene.
But footage of the forceful detentions began circulating throughout the region and international and domestic actors criticised RS authorities for using excessive force.
EU Delegation head in Bosnia, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, requested that RS authorities “show restraint”, while the Delegation asked for a report on the Tuesday turmoil. The OSCE also expressed concern.
“There are different ways to take over when the regime is labelled as unfitting from the view of global and international relations standpoint,” Perisic said.
‘Colour revolutions’ are ongoing in Europe and Asia for the past 20 years, he said, and accused RS opposition politicians of being behind the one he claimed is ongoing in Banja Luka.
“There are opposition politicians who were recruited to politicise the ‘Justice for David’ group. The group had legitimate demands, but was politicised at some point,” he said.
Those politicians “have connections with foreign ambassadors and emissaries,” said Perisic.
The advisor said that he hopes the revolution will fail.
“Movements and fake NGO’s – those of a European and a global character which establish branches in Bosnia and Herzegovina – are behind them,” Perisic said.
“They have contacts with foreign agents and diplomats,” he explained, specifying “agencies of Western countries – the UK, the US and other European countries.”
Those who politicised the case “took over the ‘Justice for David’ movement,” he said, alleging that Davor Dragicevic is not the one controlling it.
Perisic also alleged that ‘paid actors’ were present at the protest.
“The fifth phase of the colour revolution is inciting the masses and provoking shocking events,” Perisic said, adding that media in Sarajevo and ‘BN’, a news organisation in Bijeljina which is critical of Dodik, reported on the developments in a way to “present them as ‘shocking’, although it was not.”
However, Joseph Daul, the head of the European People’s Party, tweeted that was concerned about the repression in Republika Srpska, calling the detentions of opposition leaders “alarming.”
“I am deeply concerned by the attacks and repression in Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina on citizens who are demonstrating peacefully as part of the JusticeforDavid movement seeking truth and justice. Expression of thoughts need to remain peaceful,” he tweeted on Thursday.
“Detentions of opposition leader of our member party PDP @bborenovic & colleagues were alarming. Citizens & opposition rights need to be respected. #BiH will only be able to advance on path w/ implementation of rule of law, independence of justice & fight against corruption,” he posted, referring to the Tuesday detention of Borislav Borenovic, the leader of the opposition Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), which is associated to the EPP.
Six NGO’s also sent a letter to Bosnia’s Human Rights Ombudsman asking the institution to visit all of those detained in relation to the December 25 turmoil, asking also to be present during those visits.
The civil society organisations also requested that the Ombudsman investigates whether police used excessive force while detaining and questioning citizens. The requests were sent by Transparency International (TI) in Bosnia, the Helsinki Parliament of Citizens of Banja Luka, the Centre for Environment, the ‘Ostra Nula’ citizen's association, the ‘Perpetuum Mobile’ association, and ‘Kvart’.
TI also submitted criminal complaints against several police officers alleging that they used excessive force and basing the complaint on video footage that circulated in local media.
