03 Feb 3 injured after hooded attackers storm gay film festival screening in Sarajevo
Three people were injured after hooligans wearing hoods and balaclavas stormed a movie theatre hosting a gay film festival in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on Saturday –
A police official, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP that “several” hooligans entered the Art Cinema Kriterion on the second day of the 3-day Merlinka festival, which opened on Friday.
The same report quoted a cinema employee who said the number of attackers numbered “10 to 15”. He added that the hooligans “did not break anything, but they were yelling and intimidating participants who attended a debate which followed the screening of a movie”.
The three who were injured were taken to a hospital although their lives are not in danger, according to the police official.
Organised by both Bosnian and Serbian gay rights groups, the festival was scheduled to screen some 30 movies on the rights and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The police official was quoted as saying that the police were gathering information about the incident before deciding if charges will be filed.
Bosnia is a largely conservative Muslim country. The only attempt by activists to organise a gay pride march and a festival in 2008 ended up in violence which left eight people injured after dozens of radical Islamists attacked the participants at the opening of an exhibition on the eve of the march, which was cancelled.
Source: Gay Star News