Supervisor of Brcko grants certain real estates to the Medzlis Islamic Community of Brcko

The Supervisor of Brcko, Raffi Gregorian, today has issued a Supervisory Order granting real property located in Brcko Grad, a part of the building known as the “Islahijet building”, to the Medzlis Islamic Community of Brcko.

The building belonged to the Islamic Community of Brcko before it was nationalized in 1954, and is a candidate for restitution when a State law on restitution is adopted. But there is a strong case for ordering restitution of this property early. Before the Final Award was issued, the then Republika Srpska municipality of Brcko restituted to the Serb Orthodox Church most of its property in Brcko town nationalized by the communist authorities after 1945. After the Final Award was issued, the Brcko District Government, wanting to treat the three principal religious communities in the District equally, gave to the local Islamic and Catholic religious communities in the District the use of certain nationalized real properties that had previously belonged to these communities before nationalization had occurred. This Order merely formalizes those arrangements for the Islahijet building.

Aware that the Brcko Islamic Community has expressed a desire for restitution of a part of the Islahijet building, which other religious communities support, the Supervisor has decided to issue this Order. The building, centrally located in Brcko town is currently empty and heavily war-damaged, and in its present state is not put to any economic or cultural use. This restitution will build confidence amongst religious communities in Brcko and will lead to the betterment of Brcko District as a whole.

The Supervisor is not prepared to consider further requests for restitution.