Bosnian police use stun grenades, rubber bullets on rally in capital Sarajevo

7 02 2014

Protesters throw stones at police in front of a local government building in the northern Bosnian town of Tuzla, on February 6, 2014.
Police in Bosnian capital Sarajevo have launched stun grenades and rubber bullets at angry demonstrators, Reuters reports. Several cities in the Balkan state are gripped by dissent after a local unemployment demonstration grew into a nationwide protest.
The protests originated in the northern town of Tuzla, where workers on Wednesday took to the streets angry at the closure of factories sold off by the state. On Friday, an angry rally set fire to a local government building there, a Reuters photographer said.
During the days of violence, over 130 people got injured, around one hundred of police officers among them.
Anti-government demonstrations in Tuzla, Bosnia resulted in over 130 people – including 104 police officers – reporting injuries as protests over unemployment and political intransigence entered their second day across the country.

Tuzla police fired tear gas at thousands of demonstrators throwing stones, flares, and eggs at a local government building. The discontent in Tuzla, feeling the impact of diminished industry in recent years, highlights widespread frustration with a stalled economy in Bosnia, which has the highest unemployment rate – at least 27.5 percent – of the Balkan states.
Police finally dispersed the crowd after protesters began smashing shop windows and setting bins on fire, according to a Tuzla police spokesperson, media reported. Tuzla’s emergency service said it treated 104 police officers and 30 civilians for injuries.
Solidarity protests in support of the Tuzla demonstrations occurred in the towns of Zenica, Bihac, Mostar, and Bosnia’s capital of Sarajevo, where protesters blocked traffic in the city center. Four police agents were taken to the hospital, according to officials.
The clashes prompted the nation’s prime minister to hold an emergency meeting with regional security ministers and prosecutors.
“We put on one side the workers who were left without basic rights, such as pensions and health benefits…and on the other side all hooligans who used this situation to create chaos,” prime minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nermin Nikšić, said following the meeting.