Football Hooligans Clash in Široki Brijeg; Authorities Have Favourites among Protesters

Last night, the Police arrested one person connected to the shooting in the violent incident in Široki Brijeg in which the supporter of Sarajevo Football Club Vedran Puljić was killed. In the meantime, the arrested Oliver Knezović, from Široki Brijeg, escaped the detention unit and the Police has start the search to apprehend him again. Knezović's arrest stopped the flood of speculation that Puljić was shot by a member of the local police.

In the meantime, the supporters of FC Sarajevo and FC Željezničar, who expected to be joined by the supporters of FC Velež from Mostar, lifted the blockade of the street in Sarajevo after Mirsad Kebo, the Vice-President of BH Federation said that the arrested fans were released from custody in Široki Brijeg. On his way to Široki Brijeg, Kebo visited the injured supporters who are receiving treatment at the Mostar University Clinic.

Solidarity rallies were held in Mostar and Zenica, where local clubs' supporters gathered to pay respect to Vedran Puljić.

Vedran Puljić was killed on Sunday, October 4, in the clash between supporters before the Široki Brijeg-Sarajevo league match. Although there were many speculations about his death - whether he was hit with a rock or shot - the Public Prosecutor of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton reported that Puljić was killed by a gun-shot.

The information on the incident are contradictory. FC Sarajevo supporters claim they were ambushed immediately after they left the busses, and that gun-fire was opened on them. The Široki Brijeg supporters and the local police, on the other hand, claim the Sarajevo supporters started with the violence once they left the busses and even invaded private homes and attacked the people they found there.

(A video of the incident in Široki Brijeg was published on internet, allegedly recorded by the police. Although it was heavily edited before posting, it is the single available recording of the clashes and depicts the evident rampage of Sarajevo's fans and the excessive use of force by the local police. The video i available for viewing here).

A team of investigators from the Criminology Department of the Federal Police was sent to Široki Brijeg, to work on the investigation with the local police.

The events last Sunday were yet another in a series of violent incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina that have taken young lives, starting with the murder of Denis Mrnjavac in a street-car in Sarajevo last yeaer, through Amar Mistrić, Sanja Stanišić and Vedran Puljića the other day, to the attack on a young man who was stabbed in a trolley car in Sarajevo yesterday and the attack on the personnel of the Sarajevo University Clinical Centre.

There was also the organized attack on the participants and guests of the opening ceremony of the Sarajevo %#$!! Festival last year by religious extremists and football hooligans, in which several BiH and foreign citizens were badly beaten.

Once again, we could witness the power of the media, especially online media and online editions of print media. Of course, most of them presented one-sided view of the incident, something now almost taken for granted in BH society. There were also calls for street protests.

It was the online media, primarily the Facebook group that attracted more than 2000 registered members in a matter of hours, that connected the citizens and secured the support of football fans' organizations from Zenica, Tuzla and Brčko.

The Facebook group "Freedom for Dragan Lukač" called the citizens to take on the streets in protests. Just a year ago, it was almost unimaginable that so many people would block the streets. We should remember that during the protests of the Spring of 2008, the Police even arrested one protester in the attempt to break the protests. In the last two protests, the football fans yesterday and the war veterans earlier, the Police made no arrests. It should be said that yesterday's protests, unlike protests held last week, were absolutely peaceful. (The Government of the Canton of Sarajevo currently reviews a draft Law on Public Gatherings that could bring into question all such spontaneous protests).