Pale: Special Police Knock Ambassador Todorov to Floor

The Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) of the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry used physical force to knock Serbia’s ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivan Todorov, to the floor during an operation at a restaurant in Pale last night, even as the diplomat shouted that he was the ambassador. The incident, which Srpske has not previously reported, adds fresh strain to relations between Belgrade and Republika Srpska’s institutions, already under pressure after an earlier special police raid in the same town.

According to Bosnian outlets klix.ba and depo.ba, the raid took place on the night before August 26, while the portal istraga.ba dates the operation to August 25. Regardless of the exact timing, every source agrees on the target: Milutin “Mica” Danilovic, a figure well known in Pale’s criminal underworld, who had entered the restaurant and briefly spoken with Ambassador Todorov moments before the raid began.

Officers entered the premises carrying long-barreled weapons and ordered everyone inside to lie on the floor, according to depo.ba. Alongside Todorov, the honorary consul of Bangladesh in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Omar Musabegovic, also ended up on the floor. Depo.ba reports that Musabegovic immediately identified himself and was not subjected to any further action. Ambassador Todorov, the same source says, was additionally kicked in the back while shouting a line that quickly became the symbol of the whole operation, as istraga.ba reports it: “I am the ambassador, I am the ambassador.”

Despite the force used, the operation itself was brief. Milutin Danilovic, the man the special unit had come for, was not arrested in the end. Officers only checked the identities of the guests present, and depo.ba reports the entire intervention lasted about five minutes. Broadcaster BN reported that unit members had been warned before entering that senior diplomatic officials were inside the restaurant, a warning that, judging by the outcome, did not change how the operation unfolded.

Accounts differ on the ambassador’s physical condition afterward. Depo.ba writes that Todorov recently had knee surgery and has a large cut on his leg, which, according to that outlet, made the ordeal especially painful for him.

Republika Srpska’s Interior Ministry has not issued an official statement on the operation, klix.ba reports, so it remains unclear who the formal target of the action was or on what basis officers determined that force was necessary.

The first official political reaction came from Marinko Bozovic, head of the Istocna Ilidza municipality and a member of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), who said he “can’t wait” to hear the Interior Ministry’s explanation for the raid.

“Scandal after scandal. After everything that happened during the Pale raid, there are now reports of a new SAJ operation in which, according to media reports, diplomatic representatives were subjected to force as well. If it’s true that special police officers physically handled the Serbian ambassador and the Bangladeshi consul, this is no longer a question of one person’s bad judgment. This is a question of leadership responsibility,” Bozovic said. He is also the SDS candidate for the Bosnian presidency.

Bozovic also posed a series of pointed questions to the Interior Ministry’s leadership: what exactly was the nature of the operation, who ordered and planned it, did officers know in advance that diplomats were on the premises, and what, in his view, should happen for someone to resign.

“Institutions don’t defend themselves by excusing every new scandal. Institutions defend themselves through accountability, professionalism, and a willingness to face consequences for mistakes,” Bozovic said, adding that he has the impression certain individuals are undermining the Interior Ministry’s reputation rather than protecting it.

This is not the first time the SAJ’s conduct in Pale has drawn criticism. The same unit recently carried out a raid on a nightclub in the same town, during which several people were injured, prompting outrage from local residents and calls for Republika Srpska Interior Minister Zeljko Budimir to resign. Budimir said at the time that no excessive force had been used, a claim Pale municipality head Dejan Kojic publicly rejected as a blatant lie.

“It’s a blatant lie that there was no excessive use of physical force by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit at the nightclub in Pale, as Republika Srpska Interior Minister Zeljko Budimir claims,” Kojic said at a press conference.

Last night’s incident involving Serbia’s ambassador thus comes at a moment when part of the local leadership’s trust in the Republika Srpska special police unit was already shaken. For Belgrade, the case is especially sensitive because it involves a diplomatic representative with full immunity, who by definition should not be subject to police action regardless of the circumstances in which he found himself. As of this writing, Republika Srpska’s Interior Ministry had issued no official statement on the purpose, target, or chain of command behind the operation in Pale.