STANIVUKOVIĆ RELEASED FROM CUSTODY: Mayor of Banja Luka accused Croatian police of “systematic abuse”!

The Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, has been released from custody in Croatia, as confirmed by his public relations associate, Mirjana Radanović.

Stanivuković was detained at the border after several hours of control, and then taken into custody in the early morning hours, around two o’clock after midnight. Following this, he was placed in the police station in Stara Gradiška, where he waited to be brought before a judge, while his associates at that moment had no information regarding what measures would be taken.

According to statements from his circle, the detention occurred after he refused to be held and searched again while returning from Budapest, as well as the seizure of his private belongings. The specific reason for the detention was never officially specified.

Immediately before he was detained, Stanivuković spoke out on social media, stating that in the last two months he had crossed the border with Croatia as many as 14 times and that each time he was detained and thoroughly controlled, including searches with the help of service dogs.

“I did not allow them to detain me, search me, and take my private belongings for the 14th time. This is not a question of me as an individual, but of the treatment of Serbs,” Stanivuković stated at the time, saying he would remain “calm, dignified, and upright.”

Even then, he announced that he expected to be detained, emphasizing that he would not give up on, as he stated, protecting his dignity.

During his detention, his associates called on officials from the region to react, assessing that silence would mean approval of such treatment.

After being released, Stanivuković is expected to present his version of events today and further clarify the circumstances that led to his detention in Croatia.

The Croatian police spoke out

The Croatian police confirmed that the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, was detained at the border crossing between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for refusing an inspection of his personal luggage. Stanivuković himself claimed that he was subjected to systematic abuse while crossing the border.

The Croatian police explained that Stanivuković was detained at the Stara Gradiška border crossing after refusing a luggage inspection, which is a violation of the Law on State Border Control. They say he arrived at the border after 10 PM last night, and since he refused the luggage inspection, he was detained to initiate misdemeanor proceedings and released around 2 AM.

The Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Savo Minić, announced that he would ask the entity’s Minister of Internal Affairs to verify all information regarding Stanivuković’s detention with the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“He is a citizen of Republika Srpska, and we are interested in the specific reason for his detention,” Minić wrote in a post on the X network.