One Wounded in Novi Pazar Shoot-Out

One man was wounded in Novi Pazar overnight on Monday in a shoot-out between two men supporting rival political and religious factions in the local Bosniak community.

Police arrested a 38-year old man on suspicion that he attempted to murder 27-year old Nermin Ademovic, who suffered injuries in the stomach, liver, pancreas and spleen, but was currently stable in hospital. 

The Meshihat of the Islamic Community in Serbia, headed by mufti Muamer Zukorlic, issued a statement on Tuesday saying the suspect was the head of their construction service and had shot Ademovic in self-defence.

However, local political heavyweight Sulejman Ugljanin, who supports another rival Islamic Community of Serbia headed by Adem Zilkic, said Ademovic had been shot in cold blood and without provocation in what amounted to “the latest in a series of attacks on the lives and property of officials, activists and supporters” of Ugljanin’s Bosniak Ticket.

The suspect had a previous brush with the law last year when he was arrested carrying an unlicensed handgun and 124 bullets.