Protesters demand Bosnian authorities to release or charge Muslim men held for years

[Al-khiyal]

Protesters demand from Bosnian authorities to release or charge 6 Muslim men held for years

March 12, 2011 -- Dozens have gathered to demand that authorities either try or release six Muslim men held at an immigration centre for allegedly being a threat to national security. The six, who are originally from Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Afghanistan and Algeria, have lived in Bosnia for decades and have married Bosnian women, but were stripped off their Bosnian citizenship following the September 11 attacks. Some of them have been at the centre for years. They refuse to return to their home countries and Bosnia's law prohibits deportations to the countries where people could face torture. Protesters on Saturday carried banners saying "We do not want Guantanamo in Bosnia." The six hope that the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg will by the end of this year order Bosnia to release them.

[Al-khiyal]

Wahhabis hold protest in Sarajevo

March 13, 2011 -- Around 150 Wahhabis gathered in Sarajevo on Saturday in support of people of foreign descent who have been detained at the immigration center of the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Service for Foreigners' Affairs in Lukavica, because they are considered a threat to national security. With the slogans 'We do not want a Guantanamo in BiH' and 'Everyone is innocent until proven otherwise', and carrying black and green flags with writing in Arabic, used by the Mujahedin soldiers during the war in BiH, they demanded that the detainment of their fellow fighters be re-examined. The best known prisoner in the immigration center is Abu Hamza, a former Mujahedin leader in BiH.

The protest was organized by Nadja Dizdarevic, the wife of Hadj Boudella, who was arrested in 2001 as a member of the so-called Algerian group and transferred to the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was released and returned to Sarajevo last year. Dizdarevic, who posted an open letter entitled 'Muslims, unite' on her Facebook profile ahead of the protest, repeated the message at the gathering. In a statement to the media, she pointed out that the protest was organized over non-transparent detainment procedures in at least five cases, as well as poor conditions at the Lukavica immigration center.

Deputy Director of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs Izet Nehum vehemently denied the allegations of inhumane treatment at the center, pointing out that living conditions are at the level of other European immigration centers, Radio Free Europe reported. "37 non-governmental organizations have visited the center, and no one has had anything negative to say," Nehum said.