The investigation into the case that shocked Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which a minor in an attack on a police station killed one and seriously wounded another policeman, will determine whether the perpetrator was instigated to commit the act and whether certain extremist groups are behind it, officials announced. .
Several police and security agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina are involved in the investigation, and the attack has been characterized as terrorism. "This is an attack on a police station and thus on a state institution, which again causes fear and panic, and these are some of the main elements when we can characterize an act as terrorist," said the prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of the Una-Sana Canton (USK) yesterday. Merima Mešanović, however, as reported by Radio Free Europe (RSE), added that "a political motive is missing."
"In order to protect the investigation, we cannot talk about the additional actions we will take. It will be checked, apart from the motive, whether he was incited to this act and whether some extreme groups are behind it," Mešanović stressed.
The police said that the house where the minor lived was searched and items that will be used during the investigation were confiscated. Bosnian media write that the investigation is also focused on possible connections with radical groups and that all activities of the minor on social networks, as well as the contacts he had in the last period, are being checked.
The attack took place on Thursday evening when fifteen-year-old ES entered the police station in Bosanska Krupa and killed one policeman with a knife and seriously wounded another policeman, after which he was arrested.
The killed policeman was identified as Ozren Maran from Novi Grad, while the wounded policeman was Avdo Hasanović from Bosanska Krupa, who underwent surgery and is out of danger. According to unofficial information, the juvenile first attacked Hasanović, and Maran attacked him with a knife and inflicted fatal injuries after he tried to defend his colleague.
Director of the USK Police Administration, Amel Kozlica, said that "the police officers of the police administration had no knowledge nor did we have any threats to the police". He also said that the minor was not previously known to the police. According to him, the exact motives of the attack are not yet known and are in the realm of speculation, the Beta agency reported.
"It has not been established whether he shouted certain shouts or words. After conducting research and questioning witnesses, we will go public. "Due to the state of security and further prevention of harassment of citizens in the canton and the city, we will not go public with speculations," Kozlica stressed.
The Sarajevo portal Raport announced yesterday that the police had information that the minor attacker's uncle was a member of the Wahhabi movement. The portal also states that the police tried to find that person, but found that he left BiH and went to Croatia
Security measures were increased in Bosanska Krupa yesterday, and the presence of armed police officers was visible on the streets. RSE reported that the residents of the city in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina were shocked by the attack on the police station yesterday.
"This is the tragedy of society, the tragedy of a family, the entire system, somewhere it is stuck, somewhere more work needs to be done, professional institutions should deal with it. I'm scared for my child," Asim Demirović told RSE.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ramo Isak, said in the Public Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina program that the police will increase their presence in the field. "The only thing we can say to citizens is that the police will do everything to bring security to a level that will guarantee security to citizens," stressed Isak.
Yesterday, the police denied that the parents of the suspected attacker were arrested. According to police information, the minor's father is outside Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the mother recently underwent surgery, the portal N1 reported.
Taking into account that the attack was carried out by a younger minor who is less than 15 years old, according to the current law, he cannot be sent to prison, nor can he be sentenced for this criminal offense, from at least ten years to life imprisonment. He can be sent to a correctional home for a maximum of five years.
At the police station, colleagues paid their respects to the murdered police officer yesterday. The commander of the station, Željko Nedimović, described him as an experienced investigator and police officer. "Our police station is multi-ethnic and there have been no problems so far. We cooperate very well and solved all the tasks very well, here and now they made the ultimate effort to solve this complex situation and we are grateful to them for that", said Nedimović.
Members of the BiH Presidency sent messages of condolence to the family of the murdered policeman and strongly condemned the attack, calling for an urgent investigation into the motives and causes of the attack. "The attack on the police station and police officers must be treated as an attack on the state of BiH. We must oppose the extremists most decisively with all available forces", said the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović.
Security expert Safet Mušić told RSE that he "doubts that someone at that age can be aware of what extremism is", but he pointed out that there is a problem of radicalization in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"When we take some facts into account, such as the facts that some young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina joined foreign military formations and died on the battlefields in Syria, also in Ukraine, then it is evident that we generally have this problem of radicalization in society . And we also have this other problem related to the acceptance of these violent narratives. So we also have examples of violent hooligan groups who, on a daily basis, settle accounts with each other and disrupt public order and peace in cities and cause material damage", said Mušić in an interview for RSE.
He also pointed out that apart from the direct influence of the media and social networks, there are obviously certain weaknesses in the education system.
"We did not give enough importance through the school system, by introducing subjects that, or as part of some existing subjects, would deal with the topics of non-violence or violence prevention, that is, everything that could drag young people into violence. So I see more of the state's responsibility in that segment than if we could now connect some omissions or these events with the actions of the police and security agencies," Mušić told RSE.
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