Bosnia-Herzegovina: Gang With Weapons Assault Journalist Vanja Stokić And LGBTQ Activists – Police Inaction Abhorrent

Location: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Banja Luka
Date: March 21, 2023

A gang armed with sticks and bottles attack journalists and LGBTQ activists in Banja Luka. Hooded attackers beat E-Trafika editor Vanja Stokić, her colleague and activists of Bh. Pride Parade. Police were present when the attackers arrived but offered no protection. Instead, activists had to flee to escape assault. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled at this incident. Homophobic rhetoric from Republika Srpska politicians and police inaction has resulted in this violent attack on journalists and activists. The targeting of the LGBTQ community needs to stop. Police need to explain why they did not do their duty and arrest those responsible immediately. 

On Saturday, March 18, LGBTQ activists from Bh. Pride Parade held a meeting at Transparency International’s office in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska. Earlier in the day they had canceled a scheduled event after police told them it was unsafe. Instead, they gathered for a private meeting, not a public event, in a different location. Police arrived at the meeting and told those present they needed to disperse from the office and leave Banja Luka. Editor for E-Trafika Vanja Stokić told CFWIJ the activists were frightened and got ready to leave the office. 

Stokić and her colleague Ajdin Kamber arrived at the building as the activists were exiting. She noticed local residents gathering outside in a group, several making phone calls. They saw a police car arrive and moments later a gang of approximately thirty people reached the building. They surrounded it from all sides and started to attack those who were leaving. Attackers wore hoods and were armed with sticks and bottles. 

“It was terrifying,” said Stokić. “The most terrifying thing was when I saw two (attackers) after me and I started running. But I saw that I'm not fast enough and they will catch me. So I went to the neighbors who were gathering there and tried to stand with them like, “hi, they are after me, I'm a girl.” But they started yelling at me saying, “you are not ours. You belong to them.” And they even called the hooligans and said, “she's the one you want”.” 

Attackers hit Stokić in the back and threw her over a wall into a yard. They hit Ajdin Kamber on the head with a glass bottle and beat him. “They caught me and threw me into this yard. I hurt my left hand, and the left side of my body hurts. My boyfriend, he's also a journalist, got hit by a glass bottle in the head and got another punch in the head,” said Stokić.

Stokić recounted how the incident awoke painful memories for those attacked. A reminder of war in the nineties, when neighbors and friends turned on each other and were attacked because of their identities. “It brought up a lot of bad memories because not so long ago we faced war and people were handing over others because of their ethnicity. This actually woke some huge traumas. The fact that those people were standing there and wouldn't protect you and they were using the same words like “you are not one of us”.”

Police inaction

After being assaulted, Stokić and Kamber escaped to their car. They drove around searching for their colleagues. A hundred meters from where the attack was happening they saw a police patrol. The journalists approached the police asking them for help. “They didn't react, they didn't say anything,” said Stokić, “Then we said, “police can you go there and protect our friends?” And they said something like that is not our business. We asked them to tell us their names. They didn't want to, but we wrote down their car plates and gave them to the inspector later in the police station.”

Stokić is angry at police. She believes they told the gang where the Bh. Pride Parade meeting was taking place. “The main question is how did anyone know about the location?” she asks. “My friend from Pride March told me that they didn't tell their location to the police, but at some point, police called them and insisted and they said that they will be in that office. So the police knew. In the end, the police knew and it was obvious that police gave the address to the hooligans.”

“Here in Bosnia, people often say to the LGBT community, you are free to do whatever you want inside your four walls. But they were inside their four walls and police came and took them outside. Outside and brought them to the hooligans. So what can they do?” said Stokić.

In a statement Bh. Pride Parade said, “they were delivered to the hooligans by police.” They detail the encounter on March 18. “The police put us out in front, left us unprotected in the middle of the street, and they left with a police car. Five minutes later they returned and stopped under the house, and a few moments later a group of between 30 and 40 thugs/hooligans came behind them. The police were there and did nothing but allowed the violence” the organization said. 

Banja Luka Police Department says they are investigating a crime of "violent behavior" after they received a report of a violation of public order and peace. They state that "several unknown persons physically and verbally attacked a group of citizens". Police informed the District Public Prosecutor's Office of Banja Luka.

Homophobic rhetoric from politicians stoking tension

Bh. Pride Parade was due to have a movie screening event followed by a panel discussion on March 18. The event announcement provoked a strong homophobic backlash. In a press conference, Republika Srpska president, Milorad Dodik said that LGBTQ people were “harassers” and he hoped the “official bodies will prevent them from gathering both in closed venues and in the open.” On March 15 a group of conservative organizations signed an open letter lambasting the LGBTQ event. They claimed it promotes “symbols that offend religious, moral and identity feelings." 

Vanja Stokic believes that homophobic comments by Dodik and the mayor of Banja Luka combined with misinformation spreading about the event online resulted in a tense climate in the city that erupted into violence against LGBTQ people. 

“Bh. Pride Parade called the media to participate, they do it every single year. This is not the first time,” Stokic explains. “But this time someone, published fake news that they are trying to organize a parade. So everyone thought that there will be a march walking down the street, thousands of gay people and that is what made them angry. People from Pride March were saying all the time, “no, we are organizing a small event, a public discussion,” but they didn't react to that. And then political statements made everything worse. I think that he (Dodik) gave some kind of weapon to those people. Their statements actually say gay people are not welcome and you have the right to beat them if they come here.”

Due to rising tensions, police informed Bh. Pride Parade that they could not hold the event due to safety concerns. The organization canceled the event on the morning of March 18.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is horrified by what happened to journalists and activists in Banja Luka. Vanja Stokić and two of her colleagues that work at E-Trafika were forced to leave their homes following the attack. They have been unable to continue their journalism work since the incident. Words have consequences, the hateful and homophobic rhetoric spewed by Republika Srpska politicians creates a climate of hate against LGBTQ people. A violent gang inspired by this narrative felt emboldened to attack and assault without fear of being stopped. Police of Banja Luka need to explain what happened on March 18. Why did they fail in their duty to protect people under attack? This is a hate crime and perpetrators need to be found and prosecuted immediately. The journalists and activists should be able to return home safely and continue their work without intimidation.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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