Photo: Courtesy of BUKA/E.P.

Police in Bosnia’s mainly Serb entity moved on Tuesday to end months of protests over the death of a 21-year-old man, arresting his father and dismantling an improvised shrine in developments condemned by the European Union.

Supporters of the father, Davor Dragicevic, however, announced they would gather again at 6 pm as they have daily since Dragicevic’s son, David, was found dead in a shallow river in March.

Police in the Republika Srpska say the 21-year-old drowned, but conflicting pathology reports and inconsistencies in police statements have fuelled suspicion and anger over what many Bosnian Serbs see as police incompetence and indifference.

David’s parents say they believe their son was murdered and have alleged a cover-up, something authorities have vehemently denied.

On Tuesday, Dragicevic was arrested as he left his home, days after he and 19 other people were charged over a protest outside the Republika Srpska parliament on December 17.

Bosnian media later reported that Suzana Radanovic, Dragicevic’s former wife and David’s mother who was with him at the time of his arrest, was also taken into custody by police.

Police said they had taken a person identified as D.D. into custody “in order to document the crime of ‘Endangering Security’.”

EU ‘deeply concerned’

Within hours, police had cordoned off a shrine to David in Banja Luka’s Krajina Square where the protests have been held and which is now popularly known as ‘David’s Square’.

Municipal workers in orange uniforms carried away flowers, candles and tributes that had been left at the spot, but some people began building a new shrine in another area of the square.

Unconfirmed Bosnian media reports said police detained Bosnian Serb opposition lawmaker Drasko Stanivukovic at the square, with a photo being shared on Twitter that appeared to show the MP being taken away by police.

The ruling party in the mainly Serb entity of Bosnia says the protests have become politicised, something Dragicevic has dismissed.

The European Union said it was “deeply concerned” at the events.

“We have asked the RS Ministry of Interior for an immediate explanation of the ongoing arrests of different persons associated with the ‘Justice for David’ movement,” said a statement from the EU Delegation and the Office of the EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Today’s turn of events in Banja Luka sends a negative and alarming signal about the state of rule of law in BIH,” it said. “We will continue to follow the events very closely and urge all to stay calm.”

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