[Bloquez l'empire!] Ostavke Odmah! Sarajevo Residents Speak Out Against Corruption

[aaron at resist.ca]

http://aaron.resist.ca/node/159

Ostavke Odmah! Sarajevo Residents Speak Out Against Corruption

Listen to a report on violence and government corruption in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

-->To download or listen to this report, visit:
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=26875

On Saturday, March 8, residents of Sarajevo, Bosnia, gathered in the
center of the city in an interesting show of popular democratic
pariticpation. For weeks, Sarajevo residents have been outraged at
increasing violence on their city's streets, but more so on the lack of
action on the part of the canton government to rectify the situation. Tens
of thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks in
demonstrations calling for the resignation of Semiha Borovac, the Mayor of
Sarajevo, as well as Samir Silajdzic, Sarajevo Canton Prime Minister.

In January, a 72-year-old woman was killed after she was set on fire.
Three teenagers have been charged in that killing. Then, on Feb. 5, police
say three teens attacked and killed a 17-year-old student on a tram in
downtown Sarajevo. One of the three stabbed him to death.

In response to these brutal killings, the Sarajevo Canton Assembly imposed
a curfew on February 28 which forbids children and teenagers from being on
the city streets after 11pm. If they are found outside after curfew, their
parents can be charged with fines.

But beneath the situation of violence lies another story, one that points
to ongoing tensions stemming from the brutal war in Bosnia in the early
1990's, as well as many Bosnians frustrations with the international
community. They see international organizations like the European Union
and CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, pouring millions
of dollars into development programs, but few results.

We visited Sarajevo to attend one of the demonstrations, and we spoke with
members of Dosta, an organization which strives to combat militarism in
the Balkans by empowering local residents.