First Bosnian LGBT Pride March Faces Security Problems

Concrete stumbling blocks?

In a television appearance earlier this week, Sarajevo's cantonal minister of interior affairs, Admir Katica, stated that "additional requests have been made" to purchase concrete barriers to be placed in side streets along the proposed route of the march, increasing the security of the participants.

Although Katica did not reveal who was making these demands on him and the cantonal government, he further stated that neither his ministry nor the government have the necessary funds to purchase the barriers.

Katica has earlier clarified on another point raised by cantonal premier Forto, who claimed that the Pride march was given permission, stating that the law on public gatherings has no provision requiring permission to be issued, with organisers only having to register the event with the authorities.

The new development surrounding the request to purchase concrete barriers, however, comes with further concerns over the legality of the organisers being told to buy security equipment that is supposed to be the responsibility of the local police.

The march's organising committee declined to comment on the issue, citing a busy schedule during the final preparations to the event.

Gorana Mlinarevic, an international human rights lawyer from Sarajevo, told BIRN that such financial demands contravene the Sarajevo Canton's Law on Public Assembly. The law explicitly differentiates between public assemblies and public events such as performances and concerts.

"The Pride [march] is not a commercial event, but a protest. In this case the law does not require the organisers to bear the expenses of the security of the protest," Mlinarevic said.

In a statement to BIRN, the Interior Ministry of the...