Bosnia and Herzegovina govt allows restoration of medieval manuscript

The medieval manuscript of Cajnice is being restored in Belgrade without the consent of the State Commission for National Monuments, which has the status of a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina BiH.

This Gospel was sent for restoration by the Institute for the Protection of Cultural-Historical and Natural Heritage of the entity Republika Srpska RS and is financed by the Government of RS.

In 2013 the Gospel was declared a national monument of BiH by the decision of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH.

It was included in the list of more than 900 monuments that should enjoy special protection in BiH.

This decision prohibits its removal from BiH. Temporary relocation is only allowed for the purpose of presentation or conservation, for which approval is necessary by the Commission for National Monuments of BiH.

The Institute for Cultural and Historical Heritage of the RS said that there was nothing wrong with this and that they have given permission for the removal of this national monument from BiH.

The permit for relocation was issued by the institute and the legal obligation has been complied with, they said.

The case was reported to the BiH Investigation and Protection Agency SIPA, where they explained that due to lack of competences, the Gospel was moved to Belgrade, with the explanation that in BiH it is not possible to do high-quality conservation of manuscripts on parchment.

The MUP of the BiH entity said that the Criminal Police Directorate received the information from the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH, which was delivered to them by SIPA.

The prosecutor s Office of Trebinje was informed of everything, after which the prosecutor declared that actions under our jurisdiction should be taken to document the mentioned event, the entity MUP announced.

The state commission responsible for national monuments has not made an official statement about the location of the national monument and whether it has given approval for restoration outside BiH, Detektor writes.