Ravno: Bozo Raguz Hit in Head With Rock

A delegation from the Croatian Republican Party (HRS) was attacked on Sunday, September 13, outside the municipal building in Ravno, Herzegovina, while filming a campaign video ahead of the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina set for October 4. Party candidate Bozo Raguz suffered serious head injuries after, according to HRS, one of the people present struck him with a rock from close range. The incident comes at a time when Belgrade is closely watching the pre-election climate in the neighboring country, since any escalation of violence ahead of a vote in Bosnia and Herzegovina carries consequences for the security picture of the entire region and for the standing of Republika Srpska within the shared institutions.

Alongside Raguz, the delegation included Vesna Sunjic, Danijela Dzakula, Slaven Bevanda and Slavko Zovko. According to the party’s statement, carried by the Croatian Media Service (HMS), the candidates had gathered outside the municipal building to film a campaign video and discuss the recently adopted Law on Veterans’ Benefits, which regulates payments to war veterans, as well as the start of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the events that took place in Ravno itself.

According to the version of events HRS laid out in its statement, the delegation was first verbally attacked, with a group of people claiming the “municipality is private.” The candidates were then shoved, after which one of the people present struck Raguz in the head with a large rock, using full force from close range. The injured candidate was treated by the Ravno emergency medical service and the Emergency Medicine Center in Mostar, and officers from the Ravno police station also responded to the scene. HRS thanked both services for their assistance in its statement.

Who is Bozo Raguz?

Raguz is a Croatian war veteran who, according to HMS, was among the first to enter Ravno during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and witnessed the crimes committed there, including the desecration of a church and Catholic religious symbols. HRS says he also survived an assassination attempt during the war. The party linked Sunday’s attack to that wartime experience, saying:

“Our Bozo will recover. The aggressors could not stop him in the war, and these aggressors will not stop him in peace either. This will only give us strength and motivation to go on stronger, prouder and more defiant.”

The party added that the attack would not affect the candidate’s continued activities in the campaign.

What is known about the investigation

The attacker had not been identified as of this morning, and police had not issued an official statement on the incident, meaning every detail known so far comes exclusively from HRS. No other official source, police or judicial, has so far confirmed or disputed the party’s account. In its statement, HRS itself called on the relevant police and judicial institutions to take up the case:

“To investigate this deplorable attack down to the last detail and, in line with their responsibility, justly punish the perpetrators.”

The attack took place ten days after the official start of the election campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which runs from September 4 until the vote on October 4, when representatives at every level of government in the country will be chosen. Attacks on candidates ahead of elections always raise pressure on law enforcement to secure a peaceful campaign in a country whose political stability directly affects the security picture of the entire western Balkans, including Serbia as an immediate neighbor. It remains unclear whether police in Ravno will identify and prosecute the attacker before election day itself.