Famous BiH actor resigns following Minister’s scandalous statement

Bosnian actor Emir Hadzihafizbegovic submitted his irrevocable resignation from the position of member of the Board of Directors of the Cinematography Fund, which belongs to the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity. The actor did this after declaring that he would resign because of the statements of the FBiH Culture Minister, Sanja Vlaisavljevic, regarding the rehabilitation of war criminals after serving their sentences.

“With this written act, I submit my irrevocable resignation as a member of the Board of Directors of the Cinematography Fund, in connection with the scandalous and anti-civilizational statements of the new FBiH Minister of Culture and Sports, a certain Sanja Vlaisavljevic, who rehabilitates the executioner of innocent people and mass criminal Dario Kordic, who committed local genocide against the civilians of Ahmici in central Bosnia,” Hadzihafibegovic wrote.

In the letter, he pointed out that “the killer of the elderly and children in question” was convicted at the Hague Tribunal for a serious war crime.

“My worldviews, my upbringing and ethics are in conflict with the position of Minister Sanja Vlaisavljevic and with this resignation I am ending my mandate in the Board of Directors of the Fund, which is under the authority of the relevant minister's ministry,” he concluded.

On this occasion, the President of the FBiH Cinematography Foundation, Antonio Beus, confirmed that the actor submitted his resignation in writing to the Board of Directors.

“According to the law, the Board of directors forwarded the resignation to the competent authority for further action. As Board of Directors, we would like to thank our colleague for his many years of involvement and dedicated work in the Board. We look forward to his new roles and wish him many new successes,” said Beus.

After Emir Hadzihafizbegovic offered his resignation on May 11, Antonio Beus reacted by stating that a “’Viber’ [messaging app] resignation is not a resignation and that everyone knows how a resignation is submitted.”