Ultra-Right Groups Show Their Face in Bosnian Town

When the content of now defunct international right-wing forum, Iron March, was made public in late 2019, Prijedor featured in its communications.

Symbols of "Combat 18" and "Blood and Honor" groups are written in the center of Prijedor. Photo: BIRN 

Revelations showed the private messages of a member whose internet address was registered in nearby Banja Luka, and of another member, of Serbian origin,  mentioned a group visit to "Marinko and his crew" in Prijedor.

BIRN has identified the forum member, and several other members of a bikers club from Prijedor who display the far-right death's head symbol on social networks, or in public.

The BIRN investigation also showed that the web site 28serbia is used as a platform to promote the skinhead music network - Blood and Honour. In several blog posts, it claims to stand for "white unity" with anti-liberal politics, which also promotes strong anti-migrant and anti-abortion stances.

One of the articles posted when Bosnia was hit by an influx of migrant and refugee in mid-2018, said that "the migrant invasion is Islamic cancer in Europe", but the site also showed its strong anti-LGBT views when on May 9 it claimed that Europe liberation day is the "end of civilization".

Bosnia's State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, told BIRN it was monitoring such groups. The prosecutor's office would not say if any official investigations had been opened against these groups.

Police in Prijedor rejected BIRN's request for information about verdicts against individuals connected to right-wing groups, saying this would violate their personal data privacy. State prosecutos office told BIRN they had no knowledge of right-wing or neo-Nazi groups operating in the town.

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