Banjaluka police detains protestors for questioning

N1

Head of the 'ReStart RS' movement Stefan Blagic and Drasko Stanivukovic a Banjaluka City Assembly member have been detained for questioning by the police for taking part in the divers’ protests caused by high petrol prices.

“I’ve been called in for questioning to the Banjaluka Police Station. It's very interesting that while youth is being killed in the streets of Banjaluka, the police is questioning honest folks. It’s not the police’s fault, it's the authorities’ fault,” Blagic said.

He added the police are also questioning people who do not even own a car.

N1’s Snezana Mitrovic was at the scene of the arrest of Drasko Stanivukovic, witnessing the whole thing. Stanivukovic, who is a member of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) was handcuffed and taken into a police vehicle. He too was brought in for questioning for participating in the daily one-hour blockades in Banjaluka, that have been taking place for the past 4 days.

PDP’s Leader Branislav Borenovic confirmed the arrest saying that he could only confirm he saw Stanivukovic briefly and that he will provide more information on the case once the authorities and Stanivukovic familiarize him further.

The Republika Srpska (RS) entity Interior Ministry stated later that Drasko Stanivukovic was detained Wednesday because he failed to duly respond to a call for questioning.

Stanivukovic was released after the completion of questioning, and the Ministry said they will submit all the documentation on the case to the competent court in Banjaluka for initiation of a misdemeanour procedure.

 The protestors started spontaneously gathering in the streets, halting traffic for one hour every day, demanding that the prices of petrol be decreased because they rose three times since the beginning of 2018.