Serbian Orthodox Priest Shot In Bosnia

ICC Note:

“Masked robbers” burst into a Serbian Priests home in Bosnia and tied up both him and his wife. After abusing them both, they shot the priest in the head. He will survive his injuries, but requires surgery. A “religious watchdog” called Center 9 said, “due to the complicated religious and ethical population situation in Bosnia, it is not sure whether this case was just a robbery or whether it has a religious intolerance background as well.”

By Stefan J. Bos

6/03/2012 Bosnia Hercegovina (BosNewsLife)- A tense calm returned Sunday, June 3, to the Serb-controlled area of Bosnia-Herzegovina after a priest was shot in the head and his wife abused by armed robbers amid concerns the attack could raise religious tensions in the volatile region, police and activists said.

Police said Serbian Orthodox Priest Sava Todorovic was injured but survived after armed “masked robbers” entering his residence, tied, physically abused and shot him early Thursday, May 31.

His wife, Jelica Todorovic, “was also bound and physically abused” during the attack in Kalenderovci village, near the town of Derventa in Bosnia’s Republic Srpska.

Neighbors reportedly noted the robbers who apparently jumped out of a window and ran away. “When fleeing the perpetrators fired several shots from a firearm, but no one was hurt,” police said in a statement distributed by Centar 9, or ‘Center 9’ in English, a major Balkan religious rights watchdog.
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Todorovic was later brought to the main Clinical Medical Centre Banja Luka where he is treated for his head injury but listed in stable condition, said Centar 9’s General Secretary Drasko Djenovic.

“His injuries are not life threatening but it is possible that he will have surgery of the head,” he told BosNewsLife.

It was not immediately clear what motivated the robbers. However, “due to the complicated religious and ethical population situation in Bosnia, it is not sure whether this case was just a robbery or whether it has a religious intolerance background as well,” added Djenovic.
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