The reaction of the foreign diplomats in Bosnia to potential changes to the law on public order in Bosnia’s Serb-majority part represent “hysteria” and “interfering with internal issues” in the entity, said Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik on Friday.
The Embassies of the US, UK, Germany, and Bosnia’s top international official overseeing the peace agreement that ended the 1992-1995 war expressed concern on Thursday over proposed changes to the law in the semi-autonomous entity of Republika Srpska (RS) which, if adopted, would entail fines or jail time for anyone recording and taking photos of police officers on duty.
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“Legislative changes that empower authorities to censor individuals, groups, or the media, or that criminalize the free exercise of official duty, only serve to undermine democracy,” the embassies and the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the foreign diplomat tasked by the international community to oversee the implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, said about the changes.
The joint statement also criticised the Bosnian Serb government’s attitude towards anti-government protests, saying that “opposition voices, civil society organisations, media outlets, and peaceful protests” should not be perceived as security threats.
The reaction of the diplomats “represents meddling in our internal issues and I will ask for clarification about it,” Dodik said, adding that the changes will be discussed as part of a “democratic process.”
He also said that police in the US has very wide competencies and that there is no reason for their embassy to “lecture us.”
“I ask them to stop interfering in our internal issues. In the RS, nobody banned any protests,” he said, adding that the recent ones have lasted for more than 200 days “and now they are telling us that we should allow that.”
He was referring to mass protests that were held over the unsolved murder of David Dragicevic and grew into the biggest anti-government movement the RS has ever seen.
He also said that the times when the Office of the High Representative in the country could determine whether a law is good or not are over.
The EU Delegation in the country also expressed concern over the proposed changes.
Dodik said that Bosnian leaders have a clear obligation towards the country’s EU path.
“What the practice of European police forces is, that will also be implemented here, nothing else,” Dodik said.
He said that the changes will not prevent journalists from doing their job, as the embassies claimed in their statement.
“But the abuses by some are not freedom. The freedom of others limits the freedom of an individual, that is clear. I advocate for journalists to have the same status as state officials, as I have requested before, but that also carries some responsibility with it,” he said.
