Episode 129: Bilal Bosnic’s Exit from Prison a Taboo Issue

His lectures were the reason why some Bosnian citizens went to the Syrian conflict zone. Some of them were killed there. While Bosnic was serving his sentence, so-called Islamic State was defeated in Syria and the terrorist threat from violent jihadists in Bosnia has diminished, but research by BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that Bosnic still has followers who support and admire him.

Many experts in Salafism, individuals who were close to Bosnic, Salafi lecturers and security officials now avoid talking about his release from prison. BIRN spoke to participants in the court case against Bosnic, families of Syrian fighters and investigators. This report is about the kind of environment to which Bilal Bosnic is returning.