PAVLOVIĆ: I EXPECT TO BE ACQUITTED, OTHERWISE A HUNT FOR SERBS WILL BEGIN

BRATUNAC, OCTOBER 11 /SRNA/ - The President of the Citizens’ Association "Eastern Alternative", Vojin Pavlović, told SRNA that he hopes the first-instance verdict delivered by the Court of BiH, which sentenced him to two and a half years in prison under the law imposed by former High Representative in BiH Valentin Inzko, will be overturned, warning that, if not, it could mark the beginning of a hunt for Serbs and all free-thinking individuals for expressing their opinions.

Pavlović pointed out that the Court of BiH showed remarkable efficiency in his case, holding 25 hearings in a short period without a single adjournment, while other cases drag on for years, as in the trial of Bosniak General Atif Dudaković and other Bosniaks accused of war crimes against Serbs. He emphasizes that no verdict has yet been issued regarding the burning of his renovated house or the death threats against his family members, and that those court cases are also being delayed. "However, an accelerated process is being conducted against me, accompanied by tremendous pressure aimed at removing me from public life. Nevertheless, I expect that the fabricated charges will be dismissed and an acquittal will be delivered, allowing justice to prevail", Pavlović said. He points out that upholding the first-instance verdict against him, based on a fabricated indictment, would mark the beginning of a hunt for Serbs and all free-thinking individuals for expressing their opinions and speaking publicly, as Inzko’s Law, prohibiting and punishing the denial of the alleged genocide, does not allow this. Regarding the indictment, which stated that the screening of a documentary film in Bratunac about the suffering of Serbs in central Podrinje “caused fear among Bosniaks,” Pavlović said that the film was not shown to intimidate anyone, but to present the truth about the past war. He states that this truth bothers Bosniaks because it could lead to a change in the imposed narrative about the nature of the war in BiH, in which Serbs suffered massively, not only Bosniaks, as the West persistently claims. "The screening of the film caused pain and deeply affected Serbs who recalled the suffering of their relatives", he added. Pavlović is the first person convicted under the law imposed by Inzko, which punishes the expression of free opinions and the presentation of any evidence regarding the alleged genocide against Bosniaks, even in cases of scientific evidence based on indisputable facts that call into question the characterization of the events to which the law refers. He was charged over birthday greetings sent to the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and Serb General Ratko Mladić, as well as the screening of a documentary film in Bratunac about the suffering of Serbs in central Podrinje, which the BiH judiciary classified as denial of the alleged genocide and "incitement of religious and national hatred". According to the indictment, the screening of the documentary on crimes against Serbs, organized in Bratunac by the Association "Eastern Alternative", caused fear and disturbed Bosniak residents because the film was shown on July 11, when a commemoration was held in Potočari near Srebrenica for the Bosniak victims of July 1995. According to the schedule on the official website of the Court of BiH, the hearing on the appeals against this verdict is set for Tuesday, October 14, at 10:00. The Court of BiH delivered the first-instance verdict against Pavlović on May 22, and both parties have filed appeals. Pavlović’s trial began on April 1 of last year.