Bosnian Pride Activists Blame Top Politicians for Violent Attack

Bosnian LGBT activists on Monday condemned a violent attack on some of their activists by a group of hooligans on Saturday in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of Republika Srpska, one of the two entities in Bosnia, calling it a clear hate crime. 

Bosnia Pride March told a press conference in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo on Monday: "The case is now classified as a violent act but this was clearly a hate crime based on sexual orientation, and we will insist on the investigation going in this way."

After the Pride organisers planned to hold a closed film projection and panel discussion in Banja Luka on Saturday, RS police banned the event for security reasons.  

The organisers then decided to hold a closed meeting to discuss their next steps in the premises of international watchdog Transparency International in Banja Luka.

There, they also invited Vanja Stokic, editor-in-chief of eTrafika website and her boyfriend, Ajdin Kamber - also a journalist and activist, where they were soon attacked. 

After the police told the group to leave Banja Luka because they couldn't guarantee their safety, they left the premises and became exposed in the street, where Stokic and Kamber met them. 

"They were discussing the next steps, how many cars they have and where to go, when the police arrived. I felt relieved. Literally, ten seconds later, my boyfriend turned around and said: 'Here they come,' and when I looked, I saw some 20 or 30 hooligans running towards us," Stokic told BIRN. 

"They threw me over the wall where I hurt my arm, they broke a glass bottle hitting my boyfriend in the head, and one of the activists has injuries on her stomach … which she sustained while running away from the hooligans," Stokic added.