MAN FROM GRAČANICA THREATENED JEWS IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, NOVEMBER 12 /SRNA/ – Sarajevo Canton police have identified a 46-year-old man from Gračanica, with the initials Z.Đ., who issued threats on social media against the President of the La Benevolencija Jewish Cultural, Educational and Humanitarian Society Vladimir Andrle, as well as against all Jews in Sarajevo.

Members of the Ministry of the Interior of Sarajevo Canton, in cooperation with the Tuzla police, searched Z.Đ.'s premises and confiscated electronic devices used in the commission of the crime, according to federal media reports. The man was questioned as a suspect, the Sarajevo police confirmed. The suspect wrote online that he would "kill Jews in Baščaršija". He is suspected of the criminal offense of endangering safety, which carries a sentence of three months to five years in prison. Andrle stated that the threats were not directed only at him personally, but at all Jews in Sarajevo. "He used a pseudonym. It's not the first time that people write insults and threats for various reasons, but this profile, which has since been suspended, had photos of weapons, pictures of pistols... That disturbed me. That's the main reason I reported the threats," Andrle said. He stressed that it is important for such threats to be taken very seriously, for the sake of all Jews, so that such behavior does not become normalized, as people could be attacked for having different opinions. This is not the only case of antisemitism in Sarajevo where, earlier this year, the European Rabbinical Conference was canceled, and recent protests were held over the visit of Tel Aviv's "Hapoel" basketball team, which played a EuroLeague game in the Zetra arena. A group of protesters stormed the lobby of the Sarajevo Canton Government building, demanding that Hapoel's visit be canceled.