Secretary-general of the Republika Srpska Government Siniša Karan appealed to citizens, on behalf of the Government, the Republic Headquarters for Emergency Situations, and all other institutions, to strictly respect coronavirus measures.
“I would like to say that the Headquarters is prescribing measures based on the opinions and positions of the Institute of Public Health of Republika Srpska which is monitoring the epidemiological situation, which means based on medical experts opinions, with a view of protecting the health of our citizens, and by protecting their health, we are protecting Srpska and its economy,” Karan told Srna.
He has pointed out that in this situation there is a link between the health of citizens, the health of Republika Srpska, and the economy.
“We really want, and we would like to point out again, that everyone abide by prescribed measures and instructions given to our state institutions, bodies, citizens, municipal and city headquarters. Today was the hardest day and we could find ourselves in a very difficult situation. Protect your health, the health of your loved ones and the health of your neighbors,” Karan said.
He has said that measures that have been prescribed by the Republic Headquarters for Emergency Situations since March 17, when the Republic Headquarters for Emergency Situations began operations and when it had its first meeting, until yesterday’s 59th meeting, are based on regulations, Republika Srpska legislation and no measure either exceeded or will it exceed this framework.
“This is very important because some citizens, who, it seems to me, are against the public health, are disseminating fake news and false information that decisions of the Republic Headquarters are not legally based. Two crucial laws – the Law on Preventing the Spread of Infectious Diseases and the Law on Protection of the Population in Extraordinary Situations give a sufficient legal framework and all amendments and supplements that were adopted provide for a clear legal framework for all measures of the Republic Headquarters,” the secretary-general of the Republika Srpska Government said.
He has added that when the coronavirus pandemic occurred in March and April this year, such situations were not dealt with by the Republika Srpska legislation.
“While monitoring the situation and prescribing measures, such as primarily the ban on gatherings of citizens, then prescribing mask-wearing, keeping physical distance, disinfection, even introducing harsher measures such as curfew, ban on movement between municipalities, we were amending and supplementing laws and thus creating legal suppositions and foundations for measures that are in force today,” Karan said.
He has said that the Law on Preventing the Spread of Infectious Diseases, particularly Article 43 of the Law, deals with measures that Republika Srpska and its institutions are taking to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and prevent catastrophe caused by epidemics, pandemics…
“I will remind you that due to a quick reaction, and legal procedures are not very quick, we introduced the state of emergency in Republika Srpska within the constitutional framework. Due to inability to suspend the National Assembly, the Republika Srpska President assumed competences of the National Assembly and issued many decrees which facilitated the work of Republika Srpska institutions, the Republika Srpska Headquarters for Emergency Situations, and city and municipal headquarters so that they could introduce measures within a legal framework. I will reiterate once again, all these measures are aimed exclusively and solely at protecting the health and lives of our citizens, by which we protect Srpska, and by protecting its healthy tissue, that is, its citizens, we are protecting its economy as well,” Karan said.
He has stressed that all speculations and media appearances by individuals or “experts” show that they do not know enough about our laws.
“I don’t want to comment on court rulings, and this is about the Misdemeanor Court in Prijedor. I think that the judge ruled that the Republika Srpska Headquarters for Emergency Situations is not a state body based on a sentence from the Law on Public Peace and Order, Article 22, which says that state bodies should introduce such measures.
For me, this is about the inconsistency of legal regulations and a failure to connect the Law on Public Peace and Order, the Law on Preventing the Spread of Infectious Diseases and the Law on Protection and Rescue in Emergency Situations, but this is not important anymore. We managed to fix all shortcomings in legislation, which really existed at the beginning of the pandemic in March and April, together with our legal system and institutions, the Ministry of Justice and the Government, and our legislation is clear,” Karan said.
He reiterated that every decision of the Republika Srpska Headquarters for Emergency Situations is based on law.
“All those who urge citizens not to abide by measures prescribed by the Republic Headquarters, directly jeopardize the health of our citizens, and this is very dangerous. I must remind them that they are entering the criminal sphere and all those who are spreading the disease and who by their actions are heading towards it, are in the sphere of a crime and they should take care of it. Our law enforcement agencies will certainly take measures against them,” Karan told Srna.
He has said that the majority of our citizens are aware of the fact that these are justified measures, that the whole world is using them, and in the end, world health professionals said that there are three basic protective measures – face mask, distance and hygiene.
“No one needs the spread of defeatism and civil disobedience when it comes to the protection of lives and this should be skipped. Citizens should not be guided by such instructions but should listen to their republic bodies and local headquarters. These measures have only one goal, to protect the health of citizens and the economy of Srpska” Karan said.
The secretary-general of the Republika Srpska Government has said that operations of the Republic Headquarters for Emergency Situations during the state of emergency that was introduced on March 16 in Republika Srpska was in keeping with laws and aimed at protecting the health of citizens.
Karan has said that since the state of emergency was introduced in Srpska due to the coronavirus pandemic, republic bodies and the Republika Srpska Headquarters for Emergency Situations have had good cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska which gave its opinions and proposals to create a legal basis for measures.
Source: SRNA