Based on the indictment of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of the Tuzla Canton, the Tuzla Municipal Court handed down a first-instance verdict for Darko Petrovic (47) from Tuzla over suspicion that he committed the prolonged criminal offence of inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred, discord or intolerance, sentencing him to a two-year prison term.

The Court also imposed a safety measure of mandatory drug addiction treatment on Petrovic.

Petrovic was accused of posting messages in public places—such as shop windows, cars, a hair salon, and a concrete pillar with a plaque from the “Kapija” (Gate) Memorial Center in Tuzla, between March 31 and May 27, 2024. Despite being aware of the sensitive ethnic relations in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), he wrote and posted messages that praised and supported crimes committed during the war, against the constituent peoples in FBiH.

On the night of May 26, 2024, following the anniversary of the Kapija massacre, he placed two papers with messages glorifying the crime at the “Kapija” Memorial Center. This act caused distress among many citizens, inciting ethnic hatred and division.

The Court extended the detention measure for the accused, the Prosecutor's Office concluded.