The protests continue in Sarajevo and elsewhere, but a visit to the city centre yesterday painted a different picture, one of mass policing and micro protest. Yesterday, with a heavy police presence (including special public order units with full protective gear, helmets etc.), a small group of protesters was restricted to the pavement and an area in Mali Park (see pictures). Again today, traffic was running normally as the protesters were limited to the park area, albeit behind a far lighter cordon of police in their normal, civilian uniforms.
Throughout the protests, which have lasted for more than a month, demonstrators have been blocking one of the city centre's main cross roads. A few days back, after police decided to let traffic through before the end of the protest, a car injured two protesters. In the following days, taxi drivers joined the protests, using their vehicles to block traffic and thus making an important contribution to the safety of the demonstrators. Meanwhile, in Mostar, the last couple of days have seen new police restrictions on protesters.
All in all, it points towards a more 'robust' response from police to what have been, since Saturday 8 February, peaceful, if disruptive protests. Another Sarajevo Plenum will be held on Wednesday. The Plenum has already voiced its objection to the policing of the protests, including the arrest of three protesters (in German here). We can expect to hear more on this.
In the meantime, regarding the violence of 8 February, police are dealing with this using legislation on terrorism and attacks on the constitutional order. On Friday, two were detained under the relevant provisions of state criminal law.
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