Elgin university awards former European president convicted of denying genocide, drawing protest

ELGIN, Ill. (WLS) -- There was a protest Thursday night at a Chciago-area university over a planned speaking event. The scheduled speaker was a Balkan president until he was removed from office last year.

Many demonstrators called out Judson University for giving him an award after the leader was sanctioned for allegedly minimizing a mass killing that international authorities have called a genocide.

The university says the recognition does not mean an endorsement as it rewarded a first-of-its-kind Democracy Award to a European leader, banned from politics after being convicted of denying a war genocide.

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As Judson University welcomed the former president of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, demonstrators kept outside campus grounds condemned his arrival and recognition at the private Baptist school in Elgin.

"You have to stick to Christian value," demonstrator Idhan Dahirovic said. "How can you bring somebody who is making joke of victims of genocide?"

The Eastern European leader received the university's first "Leadership and Standing Up for Democracy Award" during its World Leaders Forum, despite some calls to rescind the award and cancel the event.

The award ccomes after Dodik was removed from office last year and banned from politics for six years after being convicted of denying a July 1995 genocide that happened during the Bosnian War.

"I never had a hatred anybody," Dodik said. "I always loved my people, and respected others."

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Serbian-American who is now a lobbyist for the Republic of Srpska, served as a speaker while the university stands by its decision.

"He's been standing up for self-government, for freedom of worship, to worship the Christian faith without persecution or restriction," Blagojevich said.

"We want to go to every part of the world to bring all these different speakers, whether they are controversial or not controversial, because we want to bring them here, not only to raise money for our school scholarships but we want the community and campus to be able to interact," said Mark Vargas with the World Leaders Forum.

Vargas went on to say he is open to speaking with demonstrators while also respecting their right to protest.