In Memoriam: Behija&Dzemo Zukic

Image: The tombstone of Behija Zukic in Visegrad.

Image: Behija Zukic, famous businesswomen from Visegrad.

Behija and her husband Dzemo Zukic lived in Germany before returning to Visegrad where they opened up a few stores. They were well-known  and respected by everyone in Visegrad. They owned a brand new red Volkswagen Passat passenger vehicle. Witness VG-042 testified at the Hague:

“One day I went to the MUP building in town to get a pass  to leave town just to make sure we were safe.  I was on my way back to Dusce.  There were two roads.  One was next to the Drina River; it was an asphalt road, surfaced.  And then there was a macadam road parallel to the rail line, so we took that road in order not to meet any Chetniks on our way back.  As soon as I reached the Varda furniture factory, there’s a house there belonging to a man named Sevko Hodzic.  Dzemo Zukic and his Behija passed us, and then there was a white Fico driving behind us and it pulled over right outside Sevko Hodzic’s house.  Milan Lukic got out of that Fico vehicle and walked up to Vico [as interpreted] Zukic and his wife Behija.  He seized their car.  We walked on past the Varda factory to our homes.  I said, Dzemo, my dear, what was that?  And Behija told me one thing, Don’t ask a question.  Milan Lukic just took my car away.  And that was that.  We talked no more.”

Behija was shot and killed by Milan Lukic at her doorstep on 21 May 1992. Her husband Dzemo and son were taken away by Lukic and other members of Bosnian Serb Army’s Special Unit “Avengers” (“Osvetnici”). Behija was later buried in Straziste cemetery by her neighbors.

Her funeral would also be remembered by Visegrad’s Bosniaks. Zukic family’s TAM Truck which was seized by the Special Unit “Avengers”, drove up to the cemetery entrance and armed camouflaged Serb soldiers, members of the “Avengers”, got off the truck and started apprehending Bosniak men and shoving them onto the truck.  The other people present at the funeral started running in panic across the cemetery into the woods. Around 15 Bosniaks men were shoved onto the truck that day and have not been seen since.

Action Alert! Remembering the children of Visegrad

We ask all people from Visegrad to send us pictures of children, victims of the Visegrad Genocide. Around 121 children were murdered during the Visegrad Genocide from 1992-1994.

See here for partial list of murdered children.

Send us pictures of children at visegradgenocide AT gmail DOT com

or udruzenjezenazrtva_rata@bih.net.ba

Milan and Sredoje Lukic Judgement

War-time picture of Milan Lukic in a military uniform in Visegrad.

The Trial Chamber is sitting today to deliver its judgement in the trial of Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić. I will briefly summarise the Trial Chamber’s findings. The Trial Chamber emphasises that this is but a summary of its findings and that the only authoritative account is the written judgement, which will be made available after this hearing.

This case concerns events that took place in the municipality of Višegrad, and the town of the same name, in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 7 June 1992 and 10 October 1994. The municipality is located in the south-eastern region of Bosnia close to the border of the Republic of Serbia on its eastern side. In April 1992, following acts of violence against the Muslim population in the municipality, the Yugoslav People’s Army, or JNA, entered Višegrad. It eventually withdrew on 19 May 1992, having established Serb control over the town and the municipality. Following the JNA’s departure, attacks on the non-Serb population, including murders, disappearances, rapes, beatings, and destruction of non-Serb property, increased. These attacks were carried out by paramilitary groups that operated in Višegrad with the complicity or acquiescence of the Serb authorities. The number of arbitrary killings and disappearances peaked in May and June 1992.

It was within this context that Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić both from the village of Rujište near Višegrad town, allegedly committed the crimes with which they are charged. Milan Lukić has been charged with committing or aiding and abetting persecution, murder, extermination, cruel treatment, and inhumane acts, as crimes against humanity and war crimes, in relation to six discrete incidents. The incidents are 1) the killing of five Muslim civilian men at the Drina river on or about 7 June 1992; 2) the killing of seven Muslim civilian men at the Varda factory in Višegrad town on or about 10 June 1992; 3) the events leading up to and including burning alive of approximately 70 Muslim civilians in Adem Omeragić’s house on Pionirska street in Višegrad town on or about 14 June 1992; 4) the burning alive of approximately 70 Muslim civilians in Meho Aljić’s house in Bikavac, also in Višegrad town, on or about 27 June 1992; 5) the killing of Hajra Korić, a Muslim civilian, in or about June 1992; and 6) the beating of Muslim detainees at the Uzamnica detention camp between August 1992 and October 1994.

Milan Lukic led away in a police car in Argentina after being arrested.

Sredoje Lukić has been charged with committing or aiding and abetting the crimes of persecution, murder, extermination, cruel treatment, and inhumane acts, as crimes against humanity and war crimes, in relation to three of the above six incidents: 1) the burning alive of approximately 70 persons in Adem Omeragić’s house; 2) the burning alive of approximately 70 Muslim civilians in Meho Aljić’s house; and 3) the beating of Muslim detainees at the Uzamnica detention camp.

In relation to the Drina river incident, the evidence shows that Milan Lukić collected seven Muslim men on 7 June 1992, and eventually drove them to the Drina river near Sase where he lined them up at the river’s edge. Milan Lukić ignored the victims’ pleas for their lives and told the soldiers with him to shoot the men with single shots. He and the soldiers then shot the men in the back, killing some of them instantly and then returning to fire additional shots into those bodies they thought to still be alive. Five men perished. Only VG014 and VG032, both of whom testified before the Trial Chamber, survived by pretending they were dead.

With regard to the Varda factory incident, the evidence shows that on about 10 June 1992 Milan Lukić entered the Varda factory and collected seven Muslim men from their workstations. He thereafter took them down to the bank of the Drina river in front of thefactory, where he lined them up. Milan Lukić then shot the men in full view of a number of people watching, including the wife and daughter of one of the victims, Ibrišim Memišević. All seven men were killed.

Considerable evidence was received concerning the Pionirska street incident. The evidence shows that a group of 70 Muslim civilians, most of whom came from the village of Koritnik and included many members of the Kurspahić family, were taken by a group of armed Serbs to Jusuf Memić’s house on Pionirska street, where they were robbed at gunpoint. Women and some children were then strip-searched, after which a number of women were taken away, stating upon being brought back to the house that they had been raped. Later in the evening, the group of victims was transferred to the nearby house of Adem Omeragić, where they were locked into a ground-floor room. The evidence shows that the carpet of the room had been prepared with an accelerant. After a while, a lighted, explosive device was placed in the room which ignited an intense fire when it exploded. As the victims tried to escape the flames through the two windows of the room, they were shot at by the armed men outside the house. Other explosive devices were also thrown into the room. Witnesses VG078 and VG101, who had escaped and were hiding close by, could hear shots coming from Adem Omeragić’s house. VG101 said to VG078:

“These people are killing our mother, our mother-in-law, and our brother’s two children. They didn’t do anything wrong”.

Only a handful of people survived, and all of those who are still alive came to testify before the Trial Chamber. However, 59 people were burned alive.

The Milan Lukić Defence challenged the very occurrence of the fire in Adem Omeragić’s house through a number of experts who visited the site in January 2009. The Trial Chamber has endorsed the view of the experts that the longer a crime scene investigation is delayed, the less reliable the conclusions that can be drawn. Under crossexamination by the Prosecution, the experts qualified their conclusions to such an extent as to render their overall findings practically without foundation, including by agreeing that a fire could have taken place and that an incendiary device exploded in Adem Omeragić’s house. Therefore, the Trial Chamber has placed little weight on their evidence. On the basis of the acceptance by the Vasiljević Trial Chamber of Mitar Vasiljević’s alibi in relation to the Pionirska street incident, the Milan Lukić Defence also challenged the credibility of a number of Prosecution witnesses who recalled seeing Mitar Vasiljević there. On the evidence presented in this case, the Trial Chamber by majority, Judge Robinson dissenting, has found that Mitar Vasiljević was, in fact, present on Pionirska street during the robbery in Jusuf Memić’s house, and during the transfer to and burning of Adem Omeragić’s house.

The evidence shows that Milan Lukić was inside Jusuf Memić’s house and that he robbed the victims of their valuables. He was present and armed when the strip-searches were being carried out. He also participated in removing a number of women from the house who, reportedly, were raped. Milan Lukić participated in the transfer of the victims to Adem Omeragić’s house, and the evidence shows that it was he who closed the door once the group was inside the room. The Trial Chamber also has found that it was Milan Lukić who placed the explosive device into the room, thereby setting the house ablaze. Furthermore, the Trial Chamber has found that he shot at the windows of the house and that he shot at and wounded VG013 as she escaped.

The evidence shows that Sredoje Lukić, a police officer in Višegrad, was also present, and armed, at Jusuf Memić’s house, including while the robbery and strip-searches were taking place inside, and when the women were removed. The Trial Chamber has found that he was also present during the transfer to Adem Omeragić’s house. However, the Trial Chamber has concluded that there is no reliable evidence that Sredoje Lukić set Adem Omeragić’s house on fire or shot at the windows as people tried to escape. Nevertheless, the Trial Chamber has, Judge Robinson dissenting, found that by his presence and by being armed, Sredoje Lukić substantially contributed to the deaths of the 59 people trapped in the house. The Trial Chamber has further found that Sredoje Lukić aided and abetted in the cruel treatment and inhumane acts committed against all the members of the group.

The other incident charged in which Muslim civilians were burned alive occurred at Meho Aljić’s house in Bikavac. Zehra Turjačanin testified in relation to this incident. She presented a sad, tragic but heroic figure. Permanently disabled as a result of this event, and scarred for life, she has broken all ties with her former homeland. Her evidence, as well as the evidence of other witnesses, shows that Milan Lukić and other armed men forced a group of approximately 70 Muslim civilians into Meho Aljić’s house, locking them inside.

Milan Lukic at the Hague

All the exits had been blocked by heavy furniture and a garage door was also placed against a door to prevent escape. Gunshots were fired at the house and grenades were thrown inside, setting the house on fire. Witnesses VG058 and VG035 vividly remembered the terrible screams of the people in the house, “like the screams of cats”. The Trial Chamber has found that at least 60 Muslim civilians were burned alive.

The Milan Lukić Defence also challenged the occurrence of the Bikavac fire through its experts. For the reasons mentioned earlier, the Trial Chamber has placed little weight on this evidence as relates to the Bikavac fire. It has placed no weight on the evidence of the Defence psychological expert, George Hough, who provided views on the evidence of Zehra Turjačanin, the sole survivor of the incident, without having had any contact with her. The Defence also challenged the credibility of Zehra Turjačanin because in the period immediately following her escape from the fire she gave various accounts to Serb soldiers and a doctor of how she received her horrific burns. The Trial Chamber concludes that these differing accounts do not cast doubt on Zehra Turjačanin evidence, and that she is a witness of truth.

The Trial Chamber is satisfied that Milan Lukić was present and armed throughout the incident. He used the butt of his rifle to push people into the house, saying, “Come on, let’s get as many people inside as possible.” After the victims were locked inside, he shot at the house, threw grenades into it and subsequently set it on fire using petrol.

With respect to Sredoje Lukić’s presence during the incident, the Trial Chamber by majority, Judge David dissenting, has found that Zehra Turjačanin’s evidence is inconclusive. Therefore, the Trial Chamber by majority, Judge David dissenting, is not satisfied that Sredoje Lukić was present at the Bikavac incident.

Sredoje Lukic speaking to high-level Republika Srpska authorities before turning in to the Hague.

The Trial Chamber will now turn to the last two incidents in the indictment. In respect of the killing of Hajra Korić, the evidence shows that Milan Lukić searched for Hajra Korić among a group of women and children who were fleeing. Once Milan Lukić found her, he singled her out and shot her at point blank range. He was laughing when he turned her body over with his foot and shot her in the back.

In relation to the Uzamnica camp, the evidence shows that both Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were opportunistic visitors to the camp, although Sredoje Lukić came to the camp less frequently than Milan Lukić. When at the camp, both Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić severely and repeatedly kicked and beat the detainees with their fists, truncheons, sticks and rifle butts. Several victims testified before the Trial Chamber about these brutal beatings and the grave injuries and permanent injuries they sustained and the suffering they endured.

Milan Lukić presented alibis for the Drina river, Varda factory, Pionirska street, Bikavac and the Uzamnica camp incidents. The Drina river and Varda factory alibi is that Milan Lukićwas in Belgrade and Novi Pazar in Serbia from 7 to 10 June 1992. The Trial Chamber has found that the purported alibi suffers from a number of glaring inconsistencies, and has held that the evidence of two key witnesses, MLD1 and MLD10, is lacking in credibility. MLD10 also testified in support of the alibi for the Bikavac incident, that at the end of June 1992 Milan Lukić was in Rujište for three or four days. Also in this respect has the Trial Chamber found MLD10’s evidence to be wholly unreliable. Particularly damaging to MLD10’s credibility overall was the credible and reliable evidence of Hamdija Vilić that MLD10 received payment in exchange for false testimony.

Milan Lukić’s alibi for the Pionirska street incident is that on 13 to 15 June 1992, he was deployed as a reserve policeman in Kopito. The Trial Chamber has found that the evidence of witnesses who are fundamental to the alibi as a whole, notably MLD4, MLD7 and Goran Ðeric, display discrepancies on matters that are central to the alibi. The Trial Chamber has also found MLD4’s and Goran Ðeric’s evidence to be unreliable. There was little evidence advanced in support of the alibi for the Uzamnica detention camp charges, according to which Milan Lukić was imprisoned for some of the relevant time. The Trial Chamber has found that Milan Lukić’s imprisonment for some time in spring 1993 and possibly 1994 has no bearing on the evidence showing that he beat the detainees because it does not correspond to the same time period.

Sredoje Lukić presented alibis for the Pionirska street and Bikavac incidents. In light of its majority finding that the Prosecution has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Sredoje Lukić was present at the Bikavac incident, the Trial Chamber has not made any findings in relation to the alibi for the Bikavac incident. In relation to the alibi for the Pionirska street incident, which is that Sredoje Lukić met Veroljub Živković and Branimir Bugarski in Obrenovac, Serbia, in the evening of 14 June 1992, the Trial Chamber has found that aspects of the evidence presented are implausible and that the evidence of Veroljub Živković, a key witness, is neither credible nor reliable.

For each incident where an alibi has been presented, the Trial Chamber has considered the evidence as a whole, that is, the evidence led by the Prosecution and the evidence led by the Defence, and found that the alibi is not reasonably possibly true. In particular, the Trial Chamber has rejected the alibi for the Drina river and Varda factory incidents as a cynical and callously-orchestrated artifice. The Trial Chamber has concluded that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the relevant charges.

A very large amount of evidence was presented of other crimes that were committed in Višegrad during the indictment period, including specific instances of murders, rapes and beatings, some of which were allegedly committed by Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić. A significant proportion of this evidence, including several incidents of rape, was presented by the Prosecution for the purpose of rebutting the alibis presented. As Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić have not been charged with any crimes arising out of these incidents, the Trial Chamber has not made any determination of guilt in relation to them.

Sredoje and Milan Lukic at the Hague.

The perpetration by Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić of crimes in this case is characterised by a callous and vicious disregard for human life. The Trial Chamber has found that Milan Lukić personally killed at least 132 Muslim people. In early June 1992 and within a matter of days, Milan Lukić summarily executed 12 Muslim men at the Drina river with indifference and deliberateness. He carried out the cold-blooded murder of Hajra Korić in a flippant and cavalier manner. As opportunistic visitors to the Uzamnica camp, bothMilan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić came for no other reason than to inflict violence on the detainees. Although Sredoje Lukić came to the camp with less frequency than Milan Lukić, both accused beat the detainees with extraordinary brutality, causing them serious and permanent damage.

The Trial Chamber has found that Milan Lukić played a dominant role in both the Pionirska street and Bikavac incidents, in which, respectively, 59 people and at least 60 people burned alive. While Sredoje Lukić did not himself set Adem Omeragić’s house on fire himself, he knew what would happen to the victims that he helped herd to AdemOmeragić’s house.

The Pionirska street fire and the Bikavac fire exemplify the worst acts of inhumanity that a person may inflict upon others. In the all too long, sad and wretched history of man’s inhumanity to man, the Pionirska street and Bikavac fires must rank high. At the close of the twentieth century, a century marked by war and bloodshed on a colossal scale, these horrific events stand out for the viciousness of the incendiary attack, for the obvious premeditation and calculation that defined it, for the sheer callousness and brutality of herding, trapping and locking the victims in the two houses, thereby rendering them helpless in the ensuing inferno, and for the degree of pain and suffering inflicted on the victims as they were burnt alive. There is a unique cruelty in expunging all traces of the individual victims which must heighten the gravity ascribed to these crimes.

Lastly, Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić are alleged to have committed the crime of persecution through a number of underlying acts. The Trial Chamber has found that Milan Lukić acted with discriminatory intent when committing the underlying acts charged. It has also found that Sredoje Lukić acted with discriminatory intent when aiding and abetting the underlying acts charged. Judge Robinson dissents from this Trial Chamber’s finding insofar as the underlying acts pertain to the transfer of the approximately 70 Muslim civilians to Adem Omeragić’s house and their detention and murder in that house during the Pionirska street incident.

Milan Lukić, please rise.

The Trial Chamber finds you, Milan Lukić, GUILTY pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute of committing:

Persecutions, a crime against humanity, count 1
Murder, a crime against humanity, count 2
Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 3
Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity, count 4
Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 5
Murder, a crime against humanity, count 6
Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 7
Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 10
Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity, count 11
Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 12
Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 15
Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity, count 16
Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 17
Murder, a crime against humanity, count 18
Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 19
Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity, count 20, and
Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 21

The Trial Chamber by majority, Judge Van den Wyngaert dissenting, finds you, Milan Lukić, GUILTY pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute of committing:

Extermination, a crime against humanity, count 8, and
Extermination, a crime against humanity, count 13

The Trial Chamber sentences you to a term of imprisonment for the remainder of your life.

Pursuant to Rule 101(C), you are entitled to credit for time spent in detention, which as of the date of this judgement amounts to 1443 days, and for such additional time you may serve pending the determination of any appeal. This information is provided in the event that it becomes necessary in any subsequent proceedings. Pursuant to Rule 103(C), you shall remain in the custody of the Tribunal pending finalisation of arrangements for your transfer to the State where you shall serve your sentence.

Milan Lukić, you may sit.

Sredoje Lukić, please rise.

The Trial Chamber by majority, Judge David dissenting, finds you, Sredoje Lukić, NOT GUILTY on the following counts:

Count 8: Extermination, a crime against humanity
Count 13: Extermination, a crime against humanity
Count 14: Murder, a crime against humanity
Count 15: Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war
Count 16: Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity
Count 17: Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war

The Trial Chamber finds you, Sredoje Lukić, GUILTY pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute of committing:

Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity, count 20 and
Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 21

The Trial Chamber finds you, Sredoje Lukić, GUILTY pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute of aiding and abetting:

Persecutions, a crime against humanity, count 1,
Inhumane acts, a crime against humanity, count 11,
Cruel treatment, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 12
The Trial Chamber by majority, Judge Robinson dissenting, finds you, Sredoje Lukić,
GUILTY pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Statute of aiding and abetting:
Murder, a crime against humanity, count 9
Murder, a violation of the laws and customs of war, count 10

The Trial Chamber sentences you, Sredoje Lukić, to a sentence of 30 years of imprisonment.

Pursuant to Rule 101(C), you are entitled to credit for time spent in detention, which as of the date of this judgement amounts to 1404 days, and for such additional time you may serve pending the determination of any appeal. Pursuant to Rule 103(C), you shall remain in the custody of the Tribunal pending finalisation of arrangements for your transfer to the State where you shall serve your sentence.

Sredoje Lukić, please sit.

The hearing is adjourned.

Bosnian Serb pair jailed for burning Muslims alive

By Aaron Gray-Block

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Bosnian Serb cousins Milan and Sredoje Lukic were convicted by the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal on Monday of burning dozens of Bosnian Muslims alive in the country’s 1992-1995 war.

Milan Lukic, 41, who prosecutors said led a Serb paramilitary group known as the “White Eagles” or “Avengers,” was sentenced by the tribunal in The Hague to life in prison for killing at least 119 Bosnians in two incidents in June 1992.

Sredoje Lukic, 48, who prosecutors said was also a member of the unit, was given 30 years imprisonment. The court ruled it had not been proved that he was present at one of the attacks.

Both men had pleaded not guilty to all charges and said they were not present in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad at the time of the crimes. Defense lawyers had requested acquittals.

“The perpetration by Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic of crimes in this case is characterized by a callous and vicious disregard for human life,” Judge Patrick Robinson said.

The court found about 59 Bosnian Muslims were burned alive in a house set ablaze with an accelerant and an explosive, while at least 60 people died after being barricaded inside another home before grenades were thrown into the building.

Judge Robinson said the court found Milan Lukic guilty of both incidents, adding he played a dominant role in the attacks in that he personally closed the door of one of the houses, set them on fire and shot at people who tried to escape.

The court found Sredoje Lukic was not present at the second incident, but his presence at the first “substantially contributed to the deaths” despite the fact he did not set fire to the house or shoot at the victims.

Bakira Hasecic, president of support group ‘Women-Victims of War’, said she hoped both men would be tried by Bosnia’s own war crimes court for rapes and torture for which they were not indicted in The Hague.

“They only concentrated on the gravest crimes but it is only 5 percent of all the crimes they committed,” said Hasecic, herself a rape victim during the war.

Milan Lukic was convicted on 21 counts of crimes against humanity and violations of laws or customs of war, including murder, inhumane acts, cruel treatment and extermination. Sredoje was convicted on seven counts.

Milan Lukic was also convicted of shooting and killing 12 Bosnian Muslim men on the bank of the River Drina.

After seven years on the run, he was arrested in Argentina in August 2005. Sredoje surrendered to Bosnian Serb authorities the following month. Their trial started in July last year.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Source

Bosniaks saved Jews in Holocaust

Photo of women and children in street together: A Muslim veiled woman, Zejneba Hardaga (right) and Jewish woman, Rivka Kalb (2nd from right) and her children are guided on the streets of Sarajevo in 1941. Zejneba covered the yellow star on the Rivka's left arm with her veil. Bahrija Hardasa, sister-in-law of Zejneba, is on the far left. Courtesy of Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota.

Serb propagandist Bosnian genocide denial websites, oftenly publish lies about the role of Bosniaks in WW2. What they forget to mention is the role of Serbia’s puppet regime under Milan Nedic which was the first to proclaim itself  “Judenfrei” in Europe.

The National Library in Sarajevo, shelled and set on fire by Bosnian Serb Army, destroying over 2 million books. Luckily the Haggadah was saved.

Bosniaks saved the Haggadah twice!.  First in WW2 and in 1992  when the Bosnian Serb Army shelled the National Library in Sarajevo destroying millions of books in an aim to erase Bosnian culture.

Read a short article by Jacob Finci, the President of the Jewish Community in Sarajevo about the Haggadah:

Once again, it was saved in a mysterious way. The hero this time was Qr. Enver Imamovic, the director of the Museum, who, along with a couple of brave policemen and members of the territorial guard, took out the Haggadah from the Museum immediately at the front line and moved it to the vault of the National Bank.

During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina several newspaper articles around the world speculated that the Haggadah had been destroyed or even that the Government of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina sold it and used the funds to buy arms, which was all-an untruth. By 1995 Bosnia was no longer high on the agenda for media around the world. We were left to bleed and die, and the media went on to deal with other topics. Then an idea to bring back attention of the world to Sarajevo by using Haggadah was born. Senator Lieberman said: “I will come to Sarajevo for Passover if the Sarajevo Haggadah will be on the table”. President Izetbegovic and Prime Minister Silajdzic accepted the idea and the Haggadah was brought to the Jewish Community Building for the Passover of 1995 under massive security measures. The event was noted by all news agencies around the world and quite a few sent their reporters to Sarajevo especially for the occasion. The event was the “Breaking News” for CNN, but Senator Lieberman did not make it to Sarajevo because of the tight siege and the closing down of the airport.

(Source: Tourism Association of Sarajevo Canton)

Four funerals in one day

Case no.1

On  25.07.1992 a group of Serb soldiers and policemen took part in an attack on the village  Velji Lug in Visegrad  and in that attack Bosniak civilians were murdered: Ahmetspahić Medihu, Ahmetspahić Amelu(9 months old), Ahmetspahić Raziju, Sućeska Fatu, Aljić Safeta, Ahmetspahić Latifu, Memišević Smailu. Their houses and businesses were burnt down. Dozens of Bosniak civilians, men, women and children were taken to the concentration camp at the former elementary school “Hasan Veletovac” in Visegradu.

* Note: For this war crime and others, Boban Simsic was sentenced to 14 years. More on Simsic trial here.

Boban Simsic, left, sentenced to 14 years for war crimes.

Case no.2

From the Lukic indictment:

“On or about 10 June 1992, Milan LUKIC and another man drove to the Varda sawmill and furniture factory in Visegrad in the red Volkswagen Passat car LUKIC was known to drive. LUKIC entered the factory and came back out with seven Bosnian Muslim men: Nusret Aljosevic, Nedzad Bektas, Musan Cancar, Ibrisim Memisevic, Hamed Osmanagic, Lutvo Tvrtkovic, and Sabahudan Velagic. Milan LUKIC led the men to the nearby river. After first demanding that the men empty their pockets and take off their jackets, Milan LUKIC shot them repeatedly with an automatic weapon. Family members and colleagues of the victims later found some of the bodies with multiple gun shot wounds floating in the river.”

Milan Lukic in Visegrad 1992.

These two cases have one thing in common: Mujesira Memisevic. Her husband Ibrisim was a worker at “Varda” factory. He was taken to the river Drina and shot together with several other Bosniak workers. The next month Serb soldiers and policeman shot and killed her mother-in-law (Smaila Memisevic), sister-in-law(Mediha), Mediha’s 9-month old daughter (Amela) in Velji Lug. As an addition to this, in the Visegrad Genocide, Mujesira’s daughter(Meliha 1978) and son (Edin 1981) were also murdered by Serb soldiers.

Next week, Mujesira will be laying to rest the remains of her husband, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and 9-month old Amela.

NEVER FORGET!

The seige of Gorazde ’92-’95

Map showing ethnic cleansing in Eastern Bosnia. Author is unknown.

Watch a short documentary about the seige of Gorazde ’92-’95:

The Grebak journey:How Goradze survived during the siege

Bosniaks from Eastern Bosnia crossing mountains to Grebak to buy food and supplies.

Above: In order to survive the Bosnian Serb Army siege of Gorazde. Bosniak civilians had to make a daring journey to Grebak, a Bosnian Army outpost near Sarajevo, where they bought much needed food and supplies and brought it back to Gorazde on foot. The journey took several days and it was through Bosnian Serb Army territory. The columns consisting of several hundred, sometimes more than a thousand people took place mostly during night. The journey was filled with ambushes, landmines and freezing temperatures. Dozens of people were killed, injured or froze to death. Their only aim was to survive!

A civilian who attempted to reach Grebak froze to death. During the winter, dozens of Bosniaks who dared to travel to Grebak dies due to low temperatures.

Above: In order to survive the Bosnian Serb Army siege of Gorazde. Bosniak civilians had to make a daring journey to Grebak, a Bosnian Army outpost near Sarajevo, where they bought much needed food and supplies and brought it back to Gorazde on foot. The journey took several days and it was through Bosnian Serb Army territory. The columns consisting of several hundred, sometimes more than a thousand people took place mostly during night. The journey was filled with ambushes, landmines and freezing temperatures. Dozens of people were killed, injured or froze to death. Their only aim was to survive!

Bosniak children stand by remains of a cluster bomb which was aimed at civilian objects in Gorazde.

Above: In order to survive the Bosnian Serb Army siege of Gorazde. Bosniak civilians had to make a daring journey to Grebak, a Bosnian Army outpost near Sarajevo, where they bought much needed food and supplies and brought it back to Gorazde on foot. The journey took several days and it was through Bosnian Serb Army territory. The columns consisting of several hundred, sometimes more than a thousand people took place mostly during night. The journey was filled with ambushes, landmines and freezing temperatures. Dozens of people were killed, injured or froze to death. Their only aim was to survive!

Bosniaks walking by night through Bosnian Serb Army territory towards Grebak to buy food and supplies.

Above: In order to survive the Bosnian Serb Army siege of Gorazde. Bosniak civilians had to make a daring journey to Grebak, a Bosnian Army outpost near Sarajevo, where they bought much needed food and supplies and brought it back to Gorazde on foot. The journey took several days and it was through Bosnian Serb Army territory. The columns consisting of several hundred, sometimes more than a thousand people took place mostly during night. The journey was filled with ambushes, landmines and freezing temperatures. Dozens of people were killed, injured or froze to death. Their only aim was to survive!

This 13-year old girl carried 18kg of flour from Grebak to Gorazde. The journey took several days.

Above: In order to survive the Bosnian Serb Army siege of Gorazde. Bosniak civilians had to make a daring journey to Grebak, a Bosnian Army outpost near Sarajevo, where they bought much needed food and supplies and brought it back to Gorazde on foot. The journey took several days and it was through Bosnian Serb Army territory. The columns consisting of several hundred, sometimes more than a thousand people took place mostly during night. The journey was filled with ambushes, landmines and freezing temperatures. Dozens of people were killed, injured or froze to death. Their only aim was to survive!

NEVER FORGET GORAZDE ’92-’95!

*Note: Author of the pictures is Heimo Aga. Pictures published in “Grihota je ubijanje tvica” by Mehmed Bradaric.

PROSECUTION: LIFE SENTENCE FOR MEN WHO STOLE 3,000 YEARS OF LIFE

In its closing argument, the prosecution has called for a sentence that will ensure that Milan and Sredoje Lukic ‘will remain in prison for the rest of their lives’, a sentence that will send a clear message that there is no mercy for those capable of committing such heinous crimes. Milan Lukic’s defense contends the prosecution has failed to prove Milan Lukic’s responsibility beyond reasonable doubt, asking for his acquittal. Sredoje Lukic’s defense will deliver its closing argument tomorrow.

Milan and Sredoje Lukic

‘There is only one sin, and that is theft. All other sins are variations on that theme and murder could be seen as theft of life’. Prosecutor Dermot Groome used this quote from a book Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in his closing argument at the trial of Milan and Sredoje Lukic. Groome urged the judges to deliver the sentence that would make sure the accused ‘will spend the rest of their lives in prison’ because they ‘stole more than 3,000 years of life’ in June 1992 from the Visegrad Muslims.

Milan and Sredoje Lukic are charged with setting up the two living pyres in which about 140 people were burned to death, and with the murder and abuse of Visegrad Muslims in 1992. Murder is, as Groome put it, ‘a theft of life’, not only of the victims but also of their families and the community as a whole. If the crimes at issue in this case are seen from that point of view, the prosecution noted, it will be understood ‘that the people in Visegrad suffered inestimable loss because of the actions of the two accused and the scale of the theft’.

The prosecution wants the judgment handed down to Milan and Sredoje Lukic to ‘send a clear message’: all those who ‘might contemplate committing similar crimes and use vulnerable victims’ that they would be arrested and criminally prosecuted. They will have the right to a fair trial but if they proven guilty’ there will be ‘no mercy’ for them as they would ‘be punished to the maximum extent of the law’.

Jason Alarid

Jason Alarid, Milan Lukic’s US lawyer, contested in his closing argument the evidence of the surviving victims and other prosecution witnesses describing them as ‘liars’, ‘lunatics’, ‘alcoholics’ and ‘hysterical persons’. Alarid challenged the identification of his client and questioned whether the living pyres in the Pionirska Street and in Bikavac actually happened. According to him, it has not been established whether there was a fire there and the victims have not been identified. In Alarid’s view, the prosecution has failed to contest the ‘irrefutable evidence on the alibi’ of Milan Lukic: therefore, all the witnesses who claimed that they saw the accused at the crime scene ‘lied’. The prosecution, Alarid contends, failed to investigate the Visegrad crimes properly and has not been able to call evidence which would prove his client’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. This is why, the defense counsel argued, Milan Lukic should be acquitted on all counts in the indictment.

The defense of the second accused, Sredoje Lukic, will deliver its closing argument tomorrow afternoon.

Dutch handwriting expert Wil Fagel

Before the closing arguments, the last prosecution witness, Dutch handwriting expert Wil Fagel took the stand. Fagel concluded that the signature of former police commander in Visegrad, Risto Perisic, was forged on the document corroborating Milan Lukic’s alibi for the fire in the Pionirska Street. In the cross-examination of the Dutch handwriting expert, the defense implied that Perisic intentionally signed the document differently in order to be able to deny the authenticity of his signatures later and avoid any responsibility for the crimes. In its final brief the defense contends that Milan Lukic was indicted to direct the attention away from ‘the true leaders in Visegrad in 1992’, including Risto Perisic.

Source: Sense-agency

CNAB Condemns Holocaust and Genocide Denial by Serb Delegates

Friday, 15 May 2009 19:11

Congress of North American Bosniaks Condemns Holocaust and genocide denial by Bosnian Serb delegates

Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) expresses regret that the initiative in Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to have January 27th declared as Holocaust Remembrance Day and July 11th, as Srebrenica Remembrance Day failed to obtain support from delegates from Bosnian Serb delegates from a smaller of the two entities in Bosnia, Republika Srpska (RS).

By rejecting this parliamentary initiative, RS delegates blocked Bosnia and Herzegovina from joining other European states that are commemorating January 27th.

CNAB is saddened by the fact that this rejection came only days after we celebrated May 9 Victory against fascism.

CNAB reiterates its strong condemnation of genocide and Holocaust denial.

CNAB