Dževad Galijašević
Bosnian political analyst and counterterrorism expert (born 1962)
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Dževad Galijašević (born 4 March 1962) is a Bosnian political commentator and media figure.
Biography
Galijašević was born in Moševac, Maglaj, a northern municipality of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his youth he was a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.
Galijašević ran for election to the town leadership of Moševac in 1988, but the municipality of Maglaj denied his eligibility for the position on the grounds that he was morally and politically unsuitable.[1] Later, while attending a public meeting regarding human rights and liberties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Galijašević spoke out against local leaders in Maglaj.[2] Galijašević was arrested directly after the meeting and served seven months in prison, where he began a hunger strike which prompted human rights organizations to demand his pardon.[2] The Presidency of BiH pardoned him on 27 January 1989, claiming the cause was a petition signed by .[2]
During the Bosnian War, Galijašević joined the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was an officer of the 3rd Corps.
In 1999, he was appointed the Maglaj president of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina.[3] In 2000 he became the mayor of Maglaj municipality.[4] As mayor, he ordered for 1,500 Bosnian mujahideen occupying Serb homes in Gornja Bocinja to be vacated, but the order was never carried out.[4] In September 2006 he had been attacked twice and was forced to relocate his family to Croatia.[4] In late November 2006 he stated that Izetbegović-ally Haris Silajdžić "was the organizer and sponsor of mujahedin coming into Bosnia."[4] In 2007, he became the head of the municipal administration of Maglaj.[5]
Since the mid-2000s, Galijašević has re-branded himself as a "counter-terrorism" and "foreign affairs" expert although he is considered by large segments of the Bosnian public as little more than surrogate of the Serb nationalist government of Milorad Dodik in Banja Luka.[6][7] In 2015, Bosnian media published evidence that Galijašević was on permanent retainer by the Dodik government.[8]
In 2010, his fifteen-year-old son was beaten by a 52-year-old man because of his "father working for Chetniks (Serbs)".[9] He has stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the most dangerous point in Europe from the point of jihadist terrorist threat.[10]
Criticism
He was labeled by Dragan Mektić, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a "quasi-expert and warmonger".[11][12][13][14] He and the RTRS were fined at the Konjic Municipal Court for presenting inaccurate information about Adnan Dlakić, an official at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina who was accused by Galijašević of being a former member of the Bosnian mujaheddin detachment when in fact he joined Army only in 2002.[15][16] Galijašević has repeatedly made claims that were described as conspiracy theories from which the media then make "news".[17][18] He placed several stories that were later found as fake and fabrications.[19] Fact checking platform Raskrinkavanje summarized that Galijašević was known for presenting "unverified and false facts". In an interview for Balkan Info he claimed that COVID-19 pandemic was a "terrorist concept".[20]
Works
- Hrvatska kriminalna hobotnica (2012)
- Sluge tranzicije i komunizma: priča o krizi identiteta i komunističkoj diktaturi u BiH (2012)
- Era terorizma u BiH (2007)
- Moševac: što je bilo - bilo je (1989)