Omer(Ibrahim) Karisik

Omer Karisik(1958-1992), Kuke, Visegrad

“On 18 June 1992, at around 10:00 am. together, in a group of several members of the Serb Army and Police armed with rifles, he participated in the attack on the village of Kuka in the Visegrad Municipality and   arrest and unlawful imprisonment of several dozens of Bosniak civilians, including women, children and men whom they took and detained on the premises of the Hasan Veletovac Elementary School in Visegrad, except for Omer Karisik and Redzo Sabanovic whom they took away from the village and who have been unaccounted for ever since;”

Boban Simsic verdict (07.08.2007)

Redzo Sabanovic

Redzo Sabanovic, (11.04.1954 – 18.06.1992), Kuke, Visegrad.

“On 18 June 1992, at around 10:00 am. together, in a group of several members of the Serb Army and Police armed with rifles, he participated in the attack on the village of Kuka in the Visegrad Municipality and   arrest and unlawful imprisonment of several dozens of Bosniak civilians, including women, children and men whom they took and detained on the premises of the Hasan Veletovac Elementary School in Visegrad, except for Omer Karisik and Redzo Sabanovic whom they took away from the village and who have been unaccounted for ever since;”

Boban Simsic verdict (07.08.2007)

 

Visegrad Genocide Denial

This examination of the denial of genocide at Visegrad looks at three specific examples: a documentary  called ”Na Drini Grobnica”(”Grave on the river Drina”), the works of Momir Krsmanovic, a Serb writer from Visegrad, and the Visegrad report of the Committee for Collecting Data on Crimes Committed Against Humanity and International Law.

1.”Na Drini Grobnica”  is a documentary produced by the so-called Concentration Camp Survivors from Republika Srpska organization (”Saveza logoraša Republike Srpske”), featuring the organisation’s Visegrad section (”Regionalnog udruženja logoraša iz Višegrada”).  It was produced in 2007 and since then has been repeatedly aired on Republika Srpska TV as well as being available online. One of the people who worked on this ‘documentary’ was Slavko Heleta, a journalist in Visegrad. In addition to making this documentary, they have also organized two conferences on ”Crimes committed against Serbs in Upper Podrinje”.  The organization is very close to the SNSD (Alliance of Independent Social Democrats), the party of Republika Srpska Prime Minister and genocide denier Milorad Dodik. The organization’s former vice-president Slavko Jovicic Slavuj, now a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina  Parliament, voted along with all the other Serb representatives in the BH Parliament against proposed legislation that would outlaw Holocaust and Genocide denial. The proposed legislation was based on the EU Framework Decision on Combating Racism and Xenophobia.

The RS government funds the activities of this organization and has recently given 50,000 Euro to enable it to sue the Federation of B&H.

Image: Momir Krsmanovic

2. Momir Krsmanovic, is a notorious Serb author from Visegrad. He wrote the popular novel ”’Even God wept over Eastern Bosnia” (”I Bog je zaplakao nad Istocnom Bosnom”) which deals with ”crimes against the Serb people in Eastern Bosnia”. According to his offical website (http://www.momir-krsmanovic.com/), Momir Krsmanovic was a survivor of Ustasa crimes committed at Sjemec near Visegrad in 1941. He survived these atrocities because ”Almigthy looked after him”. He boasts that he was able to write ”Even God wept over Eastern Bosnia” in a monastery on Mount Ozren thanks to Vasilija Kacavenda, the infamous Bishop of Zvornik who was very close to Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Kacavenda built his own residence on confiscated Bosniak property in Zvornik and is notorious for refusing to remove the Church built on the property of Nana Fata (”Granny Fata”) near Srebrenica.

Krsmanovic publicly brags about his close connections with the Orthodox Church (see here). His book is written as a historical novel, supposedly based on eye-witness accounts. It makes no mention of Serb crimes, instead Krsmanovic describes Bosniaks slaughtering Serbs and dumping them in the Drina river, rapes by Bosniaks etc. The novel is fascist propaganda aimed at young Serbs in Eastern Bosnia, like the film ”Pretty Village, Pretty Flame”.  Krsmanovic is also the author of ”The Blood-Stained Hands of Islam”, ”The Bloody Drina Flows” etc.

Image: Abdullah Kahriman, Bosnian Army soldier, giving a taped forced confession to Visegrad Serb authorities. He has been missing ever since.

3. The Committee for Collecting Data on Crimes Committed Against Humanity and International Law was formed during the war with the primary aim of spreading propaganda about crimes committed against Serbs in Bosnia. The committee produced a report on every town, especially Visegrad. These reports were used by Slobodan Milosevic’s defense at The Hague and can be found online. The committee gathered information from the courts in Visegrad. Two names recur: Judge Radmila Radisavljevic (later Zeljko Lelek’s defense lawyer) and Prosecutor Lazar Drasko (later a defense witness for Milan Lukic in the Sjeverin trial). Drasko is still a prosecutor in the Bosnian Federal courts and the authorities have ignored victims’ calls for his suspension. Radisaljevic is working as a lawyer in Visegrad. It is important to note that neither comes from Visegrad – Drasko is from Capljina and Radisaljevic from Zenica. Victims have repeatedly called for the criminal prosecution of both, but the authorities have ignored those calls. The most infamous case involving these two is that of Abdullah Kahriman, a Bosnian Army soldier captured by the Bosnian Serb Army near Visegrad. Kahriman escaped from Visegrad in ’92 and joined the resistance. He was captured, interrogated by the Visegrad authorities, tortured and forced to confess to war crimes. His forced confession is used by the Committee and also used in the propagandist documentary ”Grave on the River Drina”. His whereabouts are unknown.  He was last seen in Visegrad, in the custody of the court authorities. He was probably murdered.

The Committee’s Visegrad report makes ludicrous and unbelievable accusations. Here is one example:  “The Muslims publicly displayed their chauvinistic feelings and emphasised their religious affiliation by wearing green clothes, brandishing Muslim flags and other religious emblems.”

(Source: Committee for Collecting Data)

These are the three sources of information concerning Visegrad or Eastern Bosnia to be found on Serb websites.  More recent evidence of genocide denial by Visegrad Serbs can be found in comments in Internet forums, Facebook discussion groups etc.: ”What happened, happened! Let’s look towards the future”, ”The war ended 15 years ago. Don’t talk about it!”, ”I really don’t know why you people left, you are welcome to return any time”, ”We all committed crimes, now let’s not talk about it”.

Image: Bosnian Serb soldier harrasing an unidentified  Bosniak elder, Visegrad 1992.

There is another aspect of denial that particularly concerns Visegrad – the Lukicization of war crimes. This is the tendency to place the blame for every war crime committed in Visegrad on Milan Lukic. It seems now that Lukic himself ordered and executed every crime committed in Visegrad. But don’t forget, Milan Lukic was a member of the Visegrad Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army. This is an established fact, mentioned at the Sjeverin trial and confirmed by Branimir Savovic (SDS President) and Luka Dragicevic (Commander of the Visegrad Brigade). Lukic had a superior. He received orders and he obeyed orders. There is a chain of responsibility behind the commission of these crimes.

And finally, last but not least, it is worth repeating that the main role in the Visegrad genocide was played by the Crisis Committee in the Visegrad Municipality.

Slap memorial for Visegrad genocide victims

Image: Slap near Zepa were bodies of genocide victims from Visegrad were retrieved and buried by local Bosniaks. In 1992 Bosniaks in Visegrad were murdered on the Mehmed-pasa Sokolovic Bridge and on the New Bridge. Their bodies dumped into the Drina river. Read more here.

Image: Slap near Zepa were bodies of genocide victims from Visegrad were retrieved and buried by local Bosniaks. In 1992 Bosniaks in Visegrad were murdered on the Mehmed-pasa Sokolovic Bridge and on the New Bridge. Their bodies dumped into the Drina river. Read more here.

Image: The Drina river, the largest gravesite of Bosniaks from Eastern Bosnia.

Image: Slap near Zepa were bodies of genocide victims from Visegrad were retrieved and buried by local Bosniaks. In 1992 Bosniaks in Visegrad were murdered on the Mehmed-pasa Sokolovic Bridge and on the New Bridge. Their bodies dumped into the Drina river. Read more here.

Image: Slap near Zepa were bodies of genocide victims from Visegrad were retrieved and buried by local Bosniaks. In 1992 Bosniaks in Visegrad were murdered on the Mehmed-pasa Sokolovic Bridge and on the New Bridge. Their bodies dumped into the Drina river. Read more here.

Image: Slap memorial for Visegrad genocide victims.

Note: We thank Mevludin Agic for allowing us to use these pictures.

Video of Slap exhumation:

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!

NEVER FORGET VISEGRAD GENOCIDE

Visegrad’s mass murderers: Boban Simsic

Boban Šimšić, born on 17 December 1967 in Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The accused surrendered voluntarily on 24 January 2005 since when he is in custody. The Court of BiH took over the case on 15 June 2005. The Court confirmed the indictment on 8 July 2005.

On 11 July 2006, the first instance judgment found Boban Šimšić guilty and sentenced him to five years imprisonment. The Appellate Panel judgment on 14 August 2007 found the accused guilty and sentenced him to final sentence of 14 years imprisonment.

(Boban SImsic is on the left.)

Factual allegations in the Indictment:

The Indictment alleges that, in the period between April and July 1992 on the territory of the municipality of Višegrad, together with other members of the Serbian army and police, the accused aided and participated in the persecution of Bosniak civilians on political, national, ethnic, cultural and religious grounds.

It is alleged in the Indictment that, from May to July 1992, Boban Šimšić took part in attacks on the villages of Žlijeb, Velji Lug and Kuke in the Višegrad municipality and participated in the killings, rapes, torture and illegal detention of Bosniak civilians at the premises of the Hasan Veletovac elementary school and the Fire Brigade premises in Višegrad.

The Indictment further states that, in mid May 1992, together with a group of Serb soldiers, the accused harassed five Bosniak civilians in order to obtain information on other escaping Bosniak inhabitants. It is also alleged that, on 17 June 1992, together with other members of the Serbian army and police, the accused took part in an attack against the village of Žlijeb, whereby the Bosniak population was expelled from the village and detained at the Fire Brigade premises in Višegrad.

The indictment further alleges that, on 18 June 1992, together with a group of members of the Serbian army and police, the accused took part in an attack on the village of Kuka, whereby three village inhabitants were killed and facilities owned by Bosniaks set on fire, while the village inhabitants were taken and detained at the Hasan Veletovac elementary school in Višegrad.

Boban Šimšić is further charged with having participated in an attack on the village of Velji Lug on 25 July 1992, where it is alleged that seven Bosniak civilians were killed, several facilities owned by Bosniak set on fire and the remaining population detained at the premises of the Hasan Veletovac elementary school.

As alleged in the Indictment, in the second half of June 1992, at the Fire Brigade premises in Višegrad, together with two Serbian soldiers, the accused took part in the harassment and rapes of ten girls and women of Bosniak ethnicity, and further took part in the seizure of money and jewelry from detained civilians. The Indictment further states that, together with Milan Lukić, the accused took eighteen men of Bosniak ethnicity, who were taken to the location of Vilina Vlas, where Miloje Joksimović selected seven of them, whom the accused took to the river Drina and executed.

It is further alleged in the Indictment that Boban Šimšić was as a guard at the facility of the Hasan Veletovac elementary school during the second half of June 1992, when Bosniak civilians were detained at the school. During this time, it is alleged, the accused either on his own or together with other members of the Serbian army, police and paramilitary formations took part in the killing of at least one civilian of Bosniak ethnicity, enforced disappearance of at least eight civilians, rape of a number of girls and young women, infliction of serious injuries, and torture and seizure of money and jewelry from detained civilians.
Counts in the Indictment:

The accused Boban Šimšić is charged with the criminal offenses of Crimes against Humanity from Article 172 (1) (h) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina – persecution against any group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, sexual gender other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in conjunction with following sub-paragraphs of the same Article:

1. Murder
2. Forcible transfer of population
3. Imprisonment
4. Тorture
5. Rape
6. Enforced disappearance of persons
7. Оther inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to physical or mental health

Course of the Proceedings:

The main trial started on 14 September 2005. On 11 July 2006, the Court rendered the first instance verdict finding the accused guilty of Crimes against humanity and sentencing him to 5 years imprisonment. On 5 January 2007, the Appellate Panel rendered a decision upholding the appeals filed by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and Defence and revoking the Trial Panel’s verdict. The same decision orders a retrial before the Appellate Panel. On 14 August 2007, the Appellate Panel handed down the final verdict findig the Accused guilty of Crimes against humanity and sentencing him to 14 years imprisonment.