Bosnian Serbs celebrate banned holiday, praise Putin

By SABINA NIKSIC
Associated Press

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Thousands of flag-waving Bosnian Serbs have gathered on the outskirts of the capital Sarajevo to celebrate an outlawed holiday associated with Bosnia’s brutal inter-ethnic war in the 1990s. Neighboring Serbia’s top diplomat attended a military-style parade organized Monday for the occasion, which was used by Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik to demonstrate his allegiance to Russia. Dodik voiced scorn for Western “thugs who have been trying for years to rob Serbs of their freedom.” The outlawed holiday marks the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serb leaders triggered the country’s nearly four-year war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless.