Bosnia's Islamic Community plans to hold a sermon after the Friday prayer telling the faithful that violence against participants of the first Sarajevo Pride event, set to take place on Sunday, is not permitted, Sarajevo Canton's Interior Minister Admir Katica told N1 Thursday, praising this initiative.
“I want to praise the Islamic Community who presented their initiative for a sermon after the Friday prayer, during our meeting on Wednesday. They will present their position on this issue and stress that violence against Pride participants is not permitted. That's their position regarding this event and I thank them for that,” Katica said.
The first Sarajevo Pride is set to take place on Sunday, September 8, when over 500 participants will march peacefully from the Eternal flame monument in the centre of Sarajevo, all the way to the Bosnian Parliament building, where organisers are expected to hold a short speech regarding the position of the LGBT community in the country.
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Many foreign ambassadors confirmed their presence at the march and the most notable ones are British Ambassador Matthew Field and the US Ambassador and his partner Eric Nelson and Filippo Tattoni-Marcozzi.
Police authorities said, earlier, they will deploy over 1,100 police officers and various gear to preserve public order and even employ a sniper unit who will oversee the event from rooftops.
“Everything concerning the Pride is done according to the highest standards and we are taking all measures to make sure this event ends peacefully. I must stress that we contacted all national police agencies, especially the Intelligence and Security Agency, and tomorrow we expect to receive all the relevant information and the latest assessment of the security situation,” the Minister said.
He noted that if their information points to a major threat to the Pride, the event could be cancelled, but added that they checked all previous indications of security threats and cleared all suspicions.
