SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Police are being criticized for failing to provide adequate security for a gay film festival in Sarajevo that was attacked by a dozen masked men.
Three people were injured during Saturday’s attack on a theater. Police had provided two officers to guard the opening of the festival Friday, but only patrols in the area the next day.
On Monday, police were criticized for inadequately protecting the event, which the organizers had requested security for. Anti-gay violence has been on the rise in the Balkans, a traditionally conservative region.
Police said they thought patrols would be enough on the second day.
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Mary Ann Hennesey of the Council of Europe in Bosnia called the attack a “shameful incident.” The U.S. Embassy and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights also criticized the police.
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