(Sarajevo, Bosnia) Organizers of Bosnia’s first LGBT pride festival have cancelled the event following the beatings of 10 people on the opening night.

At least 10 people were injured when protesters attacked people attending the festival in Sarajevo on Wednesday night. One of the victims, a Danish film producer, is reportedly in serious but stable condition in the hospital.  The others received treatment for cuts and bruises and were released.

Q Association leader Svetlana Djurkovic told a hastily arranged news conference late Thursday night that the organization was pulling the plug on the festival, which was to have run through the weekend, because of security concerns. About 50 people attended the opening.

Amnesty International and a number of European Union parliamentarians have criticized Bosnian authorities for failing to provide adequate security at the festival, despite signs there was likely to be violence.

Dozens of opponents to the festival began gathering hours before the opening ceremony at the Academy of Fine Arts. Anti-gay religious and cultural groups – mainly Muslim – had warned for weeks they would demonstrate against the festival.

The protesters yelled “kill the gays” and  “God is great.” The timing of the festival had irked Bosnian Muslims because it was scheduled to take place during the holy month of Ramadan.

Sarajevo, once a beacon of multiculturalism and tolerance with a mix of Christians and Muslims, became predominantly Islamic after the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Posters calling for death to gays began appearing on streets earlier in the month. Police removed the posters but have been unable to catch the people behind them.

Two prominent imams have publicly condemned the festival, although they refrained from endorsing violence.

“We will not grab them by the neck on the street, but we have to say: This is immoral,” Imam Seid Smajkic told the daily newspaper Dnevni Avaz this month.

On Bosnian television, another imam, Sulejman Bulgari, said that the Quran forbids homosexuality and that the holy book is clear about it.

Pride organizers say they did not intend to offend Muslims, and that the date was set a year ago.

Dozens of opponents began gathering hours before the opening ceremony of the four-day festival in front of the Academy of Fine Arts. Anti-gay religious and cultural groups – mainly Muslim – had warned for weeks they would demonstrate against the festival.

The protesters yelled “kill the gays” and “God is great.”

Despite a large police presence, a number of protesters broke through the lines and began attacking people.

Among the injured where a police officer and two journalists.

About 50 people attended the opening of the festival.

The timing of the festival has irked Bosnian Muslims – the event is taking place during the holy month of Ramadan.

Sarajevo, once a beacon of multiculturalism and tolerance with a mix of Christians and Muslims, became predominantly Islamic after the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Posters calling for death to gays began appearing on streets earlier in the month. Police removed the posters but have been unable to catch the people behind them.

Two prominent imams have publicly condemned the festival, although they refrained from endorsing violence.

“We will not grab them by the neck on the street, but we have to say: This is immoral,” Imam Seid Smajkic told the daily newspaper Dnevni Avaz this month.

On Bosnian television another imam, Sulejman Bulgari, said that the Quran forbids homosexuality and that the holy book is clear about it.

Pride organizers say they did not intend to offend Muslims, and that the date was set a year ago.

“It coincided with Ramadan unintentionally,” Q Association leader Svetlana Djurkovic said, adding that conservative Muslims would have been offended no matter when the festival was held.

Posters calling for death to gays have been appearing in Sarajevo ahead of the Queer Sarajevo Festival, scheduled for Sept. 24 to 27.

Police have been removing the posters as soon as they receive reports about them, but so far have been unable to catch the people behind them.

The timing of the festival has irked Bosnian Muslims. The event will take place during the holy month of Ramadan.

Sarajevo, once a beacon of multiculturalism and tolerance with a mix of Christians and Muslims, became predominantly Islamic after the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Two prominent imams have publicly condemned the festival, although have refrained from endorsing violence.

“We will not grab them by the neck on the street, but we have to say: This is immoral,” Imam Seid Smajkic told the daily newspaper Dnevni Avaz.

On Bosnian television, another imam, Sulejman Bulgari, said that the Quran forbids homosexuality and that the holy book is clear about it.

Pride organizers say they did not intend to offend Muslims, and that the date was set a year ago.

“It coincided with Ramadan unintentionally,” Q Association leader Svetlana Djurkovic said, adding that conservative Muslims would have been offended no matter when the festival was held.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it was concerned that politicians have not done enough to reminded the public discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal.

“The mission strongly condemns attempts to incite violence against any group within Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the OSCE said in a statement, adding that the anti-gay posters “are intended to do just that.”

Throughout the countries of the former Yugoslavia, LGBT people have few rights and discrimination is rampant. Slovenia is the only republic that has a registry for same-sex couples, although it provides few benefits.

Sarajevo, once a beacon of multiculturalism and tolerance with a mix of Christians and Muslims, become predominantly Islamic after the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Opposition to gay pride has been fueled by the Islamic magazine Saff.

Columnist Ezher Beganovic has called for the government to cancel the festival. Calling the four day event a “festival of homosexuality” that is an affront to Islam, Beganovic warned in a column that if pride went ahead it would prompt an angry reaction from believers.

Pride organizers say they did not intend to offend Muslims, but that the date was set a year ago.

“It coincided with Ramadan unintentionally,” Q Association leader Svetlana Djurkovic told the Reuters news service.

“This is the festival of arts and culture and there are many believers in our population as well,” said Djurkovic.

She added that conservative Muslims would have been offended no matter when the festival was held.

Throughout the countries of the former Yugoslavia LGBT people have few rights and discrimination is rampant.  Slovenia is the only republic that has a registry for same-sex couples, although it provides few benefits.