The Council of Congress of Bosniak Intellectuals (VKBI) expressed support for Fata Orlovic, a Bosniak returnee in the northeastern area of Konjevic Polje, in her efforts to remove an Orthodox Church which was built on her land after the war.

VKBI General Secretary Emir Zlatar visited Orlovic on Tuesday to express support for her legal battle which lasts for more than two decades already. VKBI called upon authorities in Republika Srpska (RS), Bosnia’s Serb-majority semi-autonomous entity, and local authorities to solve the issue in “a civilised manner” and remove the Church.

The case serves as an example for the “breaches of basic human rights” for Bosniaks in the RS, VKBI said.

It also criticised the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the international institution overseeing the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, for not acting on the issue although “it has the mandate and the mechanisms to resolve it.”