Oliver Krsmanovic sentenced to 18 years!

Former Bosnian Serb Army serviceman Oliver Krsmanovic was sentenced to 18 years in prison for crimes against humanity including the killings and forced disappearances of Bosniaks in Visegrad in 1992.

Justice Report – BIRN
The state court in Sarajevo on Monday found Krsmanovic guilty on eight counts for taking part in the killings and forced disappearances of Bosniak civilians, as well as other inhumane acts in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad during wartime.

The court ruled that Krsmanovic took part in the hijacking and killing of 16 Bosniak civilians travelling from Sjeverin in Serbia on October 22, 1992, and in the killings of eight Bosniak men at the Varda factory in Visegrad earlier that year.

According to the verdict, Krsmanovic, a member of the Second Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, committed the crimes with Milan Lukic, the leader of a Serb paramilitary unit called the White Eagles, who was sentenced by the Hague Tribunal to life in prison for crimes in Visegrad.

Krsmanovic was also convicted of being responsible for the forced disappearance of a number of civilians, the torture of one Bosniak in Visegrad and beating up a prisoner in the Rasadnik detention camp in 1995.

The court however cleared him of taking part in rapes and torture.

It also said that the prosecution failed to prove that Krsmanovic took part in the burning alive of 80 Bosniak civilians in Bikavac in June 1992.

“The role of the defendant [in the Bikavac killings] was unclear to the chamber,” said presiding judge Darko Samardzic.

The court further acquitted Krsmanovic of two incidents of rape and sexual abuse at the Vilina Vlas Hotel in Visegrad because the witnesses were unsure whether the defendant was the person who assaulted them.

“We believe that the punishment fits the crime and the role of the defendant,” said Samardzic.

“The chamber finds no mitigating circumstances. The fact that the defendant is a family man has no bearing on the crimes. He offered no remorse, but continued to commit crimes,” the judge added.

This verdict can be appealed, while the two-and-a-half years that Krsmanovic spent in custody from 2011 to 2013 will count toward his sentence.

Later this month, he will also stand trial in a separate case in which he is charged alongside nine other Bosnian Serbs with the abduction and killings of 20 passengers seized from a train at a station in Strpci in Bosnia in 1993.

Visegrad Genocide Quotes – 2

Visegrad Genocide Quotes – 1

Muharem(Camil)Tvrtkovic

Muharem(Camil)Tvrtkovic, 1933-1992

Barimo massacre victims

We earlier wrote about the Barimo massacre which occured in August 1992 in Visegrad. Barimo is a village in the Visegrad municipality. In August 1992, Bosnian Serb Army attacked Barimo which was inhabited mostly by elderly people, while the rest were hiding in forests or managed to escape to free territory. At least 26 Bosnian Muslim men, women along with a few children were massacred in their homes or executed and buried in a mass grave on the river banks of the Drina.

Image: A monument built by family members commemorating the massacre.

Image: Ćamila Beha, 1941, wife of Bego Beha

Image: Hadžira Bosankić, 1913

Image: Hanka Halilović, 1900, murdered while she was praying.

Image: Muša Bosankić, 1940

Image: Sabaheta (Bege) Beha, 1968

Image: Hidajeta (Bege) Beha,1976

Image: Samardžić  Munira, 1927

Image: Samardžić Smail,  1912

Read more:

+ List of Barimo victims

+ Eliticide in Visegrad

+ Destruction of mosques in Visegrad

+ What is Visegrad Genocide?

Remembering Barimo Massacre 1992-2009

Image: The monument in Barimo dedicated to Bosniak genocide victims.

Barimo, a all- Bosniak village near Visegrad, was attacked by Bosnian Serb Army forces in August 1992.  26 Bosniak civilians were killed and the village was set ablaze. A few days ago, survivors of this crime came back to open a monument to their loved ones. The monument was opened by Emina Bajric, one of the rare survivors of the massacre.

Image: Article about the opening of this monument in Dnevni Avaz.

This was one of the worst massacres in the Visegrad Genocide, the ages of victims was from 1900 to 1980, a large number of these victims are women and children. The oldest victim was 92 years old and the youngest 12 years old:
1. Bajrić Omera Mustafa, 1930;

2. Bajrić Džemila, 1918;

3. Bajrić Hrustema Džemila, 1935;

4. Bajrić Mustafe Fadil, 1957;

5. Bajrić Mustafe Nijaz, 1965;

6.Bajrić Fadila Emir,  1980;

7. Bosankić Hadžira, 1913;

8. Bosankić Ibrahima Muša, 1940;

9. Samardžić Smail,  1912;

10. Samardžić Đeše Munira, 1927;

11. Beha Ibrana Ćamila,  1941;

12. Beha Bege Sabaheta, 1968;

13. Beha Bege Hidajeta,  1976;

14. Šabanović Razija,  1933;

15. Kos Sulejmana Vejsil, 1932;

16. Kos Sulejmana Slakan, 1951;

17. Tvrtković Ćamil Muharem, 1933;

18. Puhel Hrustema Kadesa, 1928,;

19. Kurtalić Adila,  1948;

20. Kahriman Dervo, rođen 1938,;

21. Menzilović Huso, rođen 1938;

22. Menzilović Huse Suad,  1968, ;

23. Zuban Mušan Ibrahim,  1953;

24. Zuban Mušan, 1912 ;

25. Zuban Sabira,  1961;

26. Halilović Hanka,  1900.

Image: The opening of the monument in Barimo.

Image: Bosniak Genocide survivors, praying in front of the ruins of the Barimo islamic school (mekteb) which was destroyed by Bosnian Serb Army during it’s attack on Barimo in August 1992. Read more on destruction of mosques in Visegrad Municipality here.

Picture credit: MIZ Visegrad.

Destruction of mosques in Visegrad Municipality

During the aggression on Republic of B&H, all the mosques in the Visegrad Municipality were systematically destroyed by the Bosnian Serb Army(Vojska Republike Srpske).

1.Gazanfer-begova Dzamija (1590.)

Image: The Gazanfer-begova/Gazander Bey’s Mosque also known as  Atik dzamija/Old Mosque  before the war.

Image: The site where the  Gazanfer Bey’s mosque in the center of the town. Destroyed in 1992, today it is a park.

2.Careva/Bikavac Dzamija (1571)

Image: The Bikavac or Careva/Emperor’s mosque in Visegrad. Burn ablaze and bulldozed by Bosnian Serb Army in 1992.

Image: The Careva dzamija/Emperor’s Mosque also known as the Bikavac mosque, was originally built in the sixteenth century and was renovated in 1910 and 1947.

Image: The Emperor’s Mosque set ablaze by Bosnian Serb Army in Visegrad, June 1992.

Image: The site where the Emperor’s mosque stood. Picture taken a few years after the war’s end.

Image: The Careva mosque in the center of Visegrad. Destroyed in 1992 by the Bosnian Serb Army. Reconstructed by the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina with funding by Visegrad’s Bosniak diaspora.

3. Drinsko Dzamija (1895.)

Image: Mosque in Drinsko, Visegrad. Built in 1885, burnt down in 1941 by Yugoslav Serb Royalists popularly known as  “Chetniks” led by Draza Mihailovic. After 26 years the Communist regime finally gave permission to restore and reopen the mosque (1967). The mosque was destroyed by Bosnian Serb Army in 1992, rebuilt and reopened a few years ago.

Image: The Drinsko Mosque in 2002.

Image: Mosque in Drinsko. Destroyed in 1992 by Bosnian Serb Army.Reconstructed by the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina with funding by Visegrad’s Bosniak diaspora.

4. Barimo

Image: An Islamic school(mekteb) in Barimo. Destroyed by the Bosnian Serb Army in 1992.

5. Holijaci

Image: An Islamic school(mekteb) in Holijaci. Destroyed by the Bosnian Serb Army in 1992.

7. Orahovci (1566.)

Image: Mosque in Orahovci. Destroyed by the Bosnian Serb Army in 1992.

8. Žlijeb (1550.)

Image: A mosque in Zlijeb. Destroyed by the Bosnian Serb Army in 1992.See more on Žlijeb mosque here.

Image: An Imam‘s house in Zlijeb. Destroyed by the Bosnian Serb Army in 1992.

9.Dobrun (1445.)

Image: The Dobrun Mosque, totally destroyed in 1992 by the Bosnian Serb Army. Rebuilt and opened in 2006 by funds from Visegrad’s Bosniak diaspora.

All these buildings were destroyed in a systematic way, by Visegrad Serbs, most of whom were neighbors to their Bosniak victims. All of them, whether they were armed civilians,members of  “para-military” units, or members of the Visegrad Brigade, were members of the Republika Srpska Army or it’s Police force. This was organized and planned by the Visegrad Municipality, i.e. by the Serb Democratic Party Crisis Committee. No one has answered for the destruction of mosques in Visegrad.

Note: Pictures were taken from MIZ Visegrad.

Updated: 1.11.2009