December 16, 2021

Homophobic extortion targets politicians in Bosnia

topic:	LGBT Rights
located:	Bosnia and Herzegovina
editor:	Katarina Panić

In Bosnia, an extortion case involving an erotic video that surfaced last Friday led to a public official's resignation this week. After his private video was leaked, politician Ivan Begić withdrew from the Banja Luka city council.

Although the video shows him clearly and not his partner's face at all, the ruling party in Republika Srpska and pro-government media claimed his partner was a mayor of Banja Luka. Both are prominent members of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) and widely known as fierce critics of the authorities.

"After months of blackmail, psychological harassment and threats, today, my private video was released, which is sent to citizens through the party bases of our opponents and spread on social networks,” Begic wrote on social media on Friday. “For the same video, I was asked for half a million KM [€250,000]." 

He reported the blackmail to police and denied the video had anything to do with anyone from his political life.

"My private video was sent to my friends, and the most painful thing is the fact the video was sent to my parents whose health was seriously impaired,” Begic added. “Although I believe that everyone has the right to privacy, I am aware of the responsibility I have as a public figure, so I withdraw from politics, hand over the mandate of the councillor and leave the PDP."

The LGBTQ community strongly condemned that sexual orientation was used to shame and discredit someone, stressing that women and LGBTQ people are most often victims of threats, blackmail and extortion.

"LGBTQ people are present in all spheres of society, but due to homophobia and violence, the process of coming out is difficult for them. Fear of rejection, harassment and violence is at the heart of the decision not to come out," the organising committee of the Bosnian Pride March stated in its press release.

One good thing appeared parallelly - the overwhelming support for a gay politician in public, which could hardly have been expected in such a profoundly homophobic and conservative society as Bosnia. An overwhelming number of people called on him not to resign and for his political party not to accept the resignation. 

"The people of Banja Luka are with you, not because you are from the PDP, not because you are a homosexual, but because they are sick of such  disgusting acts [by political opponents],"Banja Luka-based political analyst Srđan Puhalo wrote in his op-ed.

Photo by Yannis Papanastasopoulos

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