July 24, 2021
Sarajevo: The Serb member of Bosnia’s joint presidency on Friday threatened the "dissolution" of the country, after the outgoing UN high representative used his discretionary powers to ban genocide denial.
The UN official in Bosnia holds some executive powers in the Balkan country that was the scene of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, of Muslims.
Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, whose main role as high representative is to oversee the Dayton peace agreement that ended the bloody 1990s inter-communal conflict, made the decision a week before handing over to German colleague Christian Schmidt.
Inzko added several amendments to the Bosnian Criminal Code, including providing penalties of between six months and five years in prison for those who "publicly approve, deny, grossly minimise or attempt to justify the crime of genocide, crime against humanity and war crime," according to a document on the website of the Office of the High Representative.