Hodzic’s assailant, Renato Marjanovic, filmed the incident. The video, which Marjanovic posted on Facebook but later removed, showed him telling his Bosniak victim: “Now, say aloud that you ask the Bosnian Serbs for forgiveness and say that you respect Republika Srpska and [Bosnian Serb political leader] Milorad Dodik.”

Marjanovic was arrested on March 12, and police in Prijedor confirmed that he was being investigated on suspicion of committing the criminal offence of abuse, torture or other inhumane and humiliating treatment.

But the fact that the incident was not classified as a hate-motivated crime has caused concern among post-war returnees in the country – as well as raising the question of whether hate crimes are being properly investigated.

Hodzic said he had never met Marjanovic before that day, and that he cannot explain what sparked the attack.

“First, I was in shock that he was asking me to remove the Bosnian emblem, I thought it was some weird joke… then he attacked me, from behind,” he told BIRN.

Mirsad Duratovic, a local councillor in Prijedor, said that he will file an official request to Republika Srpska’s Interior Ministry, asking for the offence to be reclassified as a hate crime.

“This attack was motivated by hate, it was based on national [ethnic], racial and religious hatred, and we, Bosniak officials in Prijedor, had a joint meeting at which this request was one of the main conclusions,” Duratovic told BIRN.

Republika Srpska’s Interior Ministry did not respond to BIRN’s inquiries about the issue by the time of publication.

Shortly after the coat-of-arms incident, Alen Dzindo, another post-war returnee in Vlasenica, a municipality in eastern Republika Srpska, said that his family had discovered five bombs in their back yard.

“I do not suspect myself, my wife and children or the people who are working here,” Dzindo told Sarajevo-based news site Radiosarajevo.ba on March 18.

Police in Zvornik, who are in charge of the Vlasenica area, told BIRN that they are investigating and cannot provide details about the case.

The two incidents came after Western diplomats expressed concern about the alleged incitement of religious and ethnic hatred at a rally held by uniform-clad Serb nationalist Chetnik supporters in the Republika Srpska town of Visegrad on March 10.

The US embassy in Sarajevo said it was “appalled by reports of threats and nationalistic rhetoric” at the rally.

Members of the Ravna Gora Movement – widely known as the Chetniks – wore black uniforms at the event and reportedly sang ethnically provocative songs. An investigation is ongoing.

Many hate crimes unreported