The Republic of Srpska

The Republic of Srpska Minister of the Interior, Mr Siniša Karan, invited today all citizens who were in possession of illegal weapon to hand it over without any liability and consequences, since it represented a threat to everyone. Minister Karan visited Prijedor today, in the framework of the campaign "Choose life instead of weapons", which was organized with the aim of informing citizens about the procedures in case of finding out about illegal possession or finding of firearms.   "The largest number of criminal offences related to weapons, actually occur in our neighborhoods, in houses, apartments, yards, and unfortunately with our children, with the youngest population for whom weapons and mine-explosive devices are toys that they happily play with, resulting in tragic consequences", said Minister Karan.        He added that the Ministry of the Interior had another campaign last year that was directly aimed at school children and youth who were the target group on how to discover and recognize and how to act if they find explosives during play.      "At that time we addressed the youngest and told them that weapons do not protect, but kill. And now we are addressing all citizens, parents, all those who have illegal weapons, because we all, including the Ministry of the Interior, need to be clearer and more concise about this issue," said Minister Karan.      He added that illegal weapon, various types of weapons and lethal devices that were probably left over from the Homeland Defence War, have become a threat.      "Anyone who thinks we can get rid of a bomb by throwing it into a river or a forest has actually directly endangered someone from his family, a hiker, a tourist, and therefore we ask all citizens who have illegal weapons, those weapons that cannot be obtained according to the law to hand them over without any liability, without fear of any consequences," Minister Karan said.      He added that this action could not be implemented partially, but on the territory of the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina, and prese