Islamist Death Threats Force Out Bosnia Minister

Slogans declaring support for the former Education Minister of Sarajevo Canton, Emir Suljagic, appeared on February 13 on sites around the capital, reading, “We are all Emir S.”, “Dignity Rather Than a Chair” and “Watch Out, a Bullet”.

Suljagic resigned on Friday last week, citing death threats to his family from hardline Muslims opposed to educational reforms allegedly downplaying the importance of religion.

On Wednesday, Suljagic received a death threat at his home in the form of a short letter and a 7.32 caliber bullet.

“Abandon Allah and his religion and the hand of the faithful will get you," the message read. Two days after, Suljagic sent the cantonal assembly his resignation letter.

Suljagic said he was not ready to submit to such pressures. In a letter published on Friday on the cantonal government website he said his only remaining option was to quit.

“Those hiding behind religion to threaten me and my family are misusing religion to keep the power and privileges they undeservingly enjoy,” Suljagic said in the letter.

Friday's resignation was not Suljagic's first since he took the ministerial post in January 2011.

Pressures began building on Suljagic last year when he ruled that religious education scores in primary schools would no longer be relevant to pupils' average scores at the end of the year.

That act was attacked by Muslim clergy as an attempt to abolish or downgrade religious education in primary schools.

The head of the Islamic community in Bosnia, Mustafa Ceric, publicly asked Suljagic to withdraw the decision, which he refused to do.

After he failed to receive support from the cantonal government, led by his colleagues from the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Suljagic resigned in May. The cantonal government and the SDP leadership then persuaded him to stay at the post.

Some media said that an additional reason for Suljagic's fresh resignation last week was further lack of support from the Social Democrats.