Bikavac exhumation 25.2.2016

 

25.2.2016 – An exhumation was carried out on the foundations of Meho Aljic’s house in Bikavac where on 27.6.1992 one of the worst war crimes was committed during the genocide 1992-95. At least 70 women and children were burnt alive by Bosnian Serb soldiers.

On 25.2.2016, the Missing Persons Institute conducted an exhumation on this location and found one piece of human bone. There were several exhumations conducted on this location but this was the first time a human bone was discovered.

The crime scene was destroyed by the local authorities during or after the war. The house was bulldozed and the site was turned into a garbage dump.

DNA analysis will be conducted on the discovered bone in order to try and establish an identity of a victim.

Photo credits: Avaz

 

Ljubomir Tasic awarded by Visegrad Municipality

Image: Dnevni avaz article about Visegrad Mayor Slavisa Miskovic handing the Visegrad award to Ljubomir Tasic.

“On 28 October 2014, The Bosnian state court on Tuesday found Milisavljevic and Pantelic guilty of taking part in the massacre of the 48 men from Visegrad in the Sokolac municipality on June 15, 1992.

The men who died were in a prisoner convoy which left Visegrad on June 14. They were then separated from the other prisoners and taken to the Paklenik pit, where Bosnian Serb police officers and soldiers shot them or beat them to death.

The bodies were then thrown into the pit, from which they were exhumed eight years later.

Only one man, Ferid Spahic, managed to survive and give evidence at the trial. He testified that Milisavljevic took part in the killings.

“The witness said that Milisavljevic was the first man to open fire,” said presiding judge Vesna Jesenkovic.

The convictions were also based on the testimony of bus drivers from the convoy, who said that Milisavljevic and Pantelic were part of the group that took the men to the Paklenik pit.

Even though nobody saw Pantelic shoot prisoners, the judge explained, he was found guilty of “assisting in the murder of civilians”.

A third defendant, Ljubomir Tasic, was cleared of the charges against him.

The judge said that the Bosnian prosecution didn’t provide adequate evidence that Tasic took part in taking the civilian prisoners out of Visegrad. Witnesses only said that Tasic told people to go because he could not protect them, Jesenkovic explained.”
– See more at: http://www.justice-report.com/en/articles/two-bosnian-serbs-convicted-of-visegrad-massacre#sthash.auV1hDbW.dpuf

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.

Spomen-obilježje ubijenim Bošnjacima u Dobrunu, Višegrad

U mjestu Dobrun, dvadesetak kilometara od Višegrada, danas je otvoreno spomen-obilježje za 131 civila bošnjačke nacionalnosti, koja su ubijena početkom proteklog rata u BiH.

Spomen-obilježje kod Careve džamije, prve džamije izgrađene na tlu BiH po dolasku turske vojske, izgradilo je Udruženje „Dobrunjani i prijatelji“, poznatije kao „Dobrun – Stari grad“ , javlja Anadolu Agency (AA).

Prethodno je dobijena saglasnost Vakufske direkcije BiH, kao i dozvole Opštine Višegrad. Prema riječima predsjednika Udruženja Esada Hrustića, bilo je teško prikupiti sve podatke o imenima stradalih, što je rađeno uz pomoć preživjelih članova porodica, a broj ubijenih u napadima nije konačan.

– Naši preci, naša djeca, naša braća i sestre su zaslužili da konačno uradimo ovako nešto. Ponosni smo na to – rekao je Hrustić.

Historija bilježi da su kroz Dobrun prolazili i uglavnom živjeli samo dobri ljudi, a njihova djela se spominju u historiji bosanskoj, kaže predsjednik Medžlisa IZ Višegrad Bilal Memišević.

– Dobre ljude, pitomu zemlju dobrunsku, spominju Evlija Čelebija i svi oni koji su prije njega prolazili kroz Dobrun i pisali o ovom mjestu. Naravno, kroz Dobrun su prolazili i oni koji nisu dobri i zbog njih mi danas i jesmo ovdje, da glasno i jasno u dobrom Dobrunu kažemo da nećemo dozvoliti da nam se iste ili slične stvari u budućnosti događaju – poručio je Memišević.

Predsjednik Skupštine opštine Višegrad Suljo Fejzić kazao je kako su preživjeli izgradnjom ovakvih spomenika prinuđeni pisati istoriju o stradanju svojih najmilijih, jer to na način kako se istorija piše u ovoj državi nije moguće.

– Ovo je naš način da sačuvamo od zaborava sve naše žrtve i ono što nam se desilo u proteklom ratu. Dželatima ovih ljudi ništa nije bilo sveto. Ovi ljudi su ubijeni samo zato što su bili Bošnjaci. Ako mi ne budemo pričali istinu o stradanju Bošnjaka Višegrada, radit će to oni koji nisu bili ni blizu ovim prostorima, ali i dželati i ubice – rekao je Fejzić.

Otvaranju spomen-obilježja prisustvovale su desetine prijeratnih stanovnika Dobruna, ali i povratnici u ovu višegradsku mjesnu zajednicu. Spomen-obilježje otvorila su djeca čiji su roditelji porijeklom iz ovog kraja, a u okviru programa uručene su zahvalnice najzaslužnijima za realizaciju ovog projekta.

(Faktor.ba)

Visegrad Genocide Quotes – 2

Visegrad Genocide Quotes – 1

Dragan Sekaric sentenced for 14 years for Visegrad crimes

Image: Bosnian Serb Dragan Sekaric

Former Bosnian Serb Army soldier Dragan Sekaric was sentenced to 14 years in prison for rape and murder in the village of Kosovo Polje in the Visegrad municipality in 1992.
Sekaric was found guilty on Friday of going to a house in Kosovo Polje in June 1992 with other Bosnian Serb soldiers and taking several civilians outside, after which he raped a woman inside the house.

He was also convicted of pushing a civilian called Fatima Jamak into a burning house on the same day, and killing her afterwards.

Presiding judge Mira Smajlovic said that the Bosnian prosecution had proved that Sekaric committed his crimes with intent and that the testimonies of the rape victim and another witness who in the village were “convincing and objective”.

“The defence challenged the credibility of witnesses S1 [the victim] and S3 [the eyewitness], considering their descriptions of a person they knew as Dragan Gorazdak differed. However, the trial chamber finds that the witnesses gave satisfactory explanations for these differences. Namely, they were in a state of fear and it is clear why they did not remember details they did not find important,” said Smajlovic.

The judge also said that Sekaric’s alibi – given by his uncle, who testified that the defendant was in Serbia – was not convincing.

Smajlovic said that while considering the 14-year sentence, the court took into account the fact that he was a family man with two children as a mitigating circumstance and the brutality of his crime as an aggravating circumstance.

The verdict however acquitted Sekaric of taking part in an attack on Kokino Selo in Gorazde, robbing and taking away a man and his son from Visegrad, both of whom were never seen again, and beating a prisoner in the Uzamnica detention camp.

Smajlovic said witness testimonies about the attack on Kokino Selo only offered “second hand and imprecise” details about Sekaric. She said that the testimony of a witness about the Visegrad incident was also not convincing.

Regarding the prisoner abuse charge, Smajlovic explained that the Bosnian prosecution had failed to call a victim to testify.

“Because of the procedural mistakes of the Bosnian prosecution and the lack of evidence, the trial chamber had no other options then to acquit the defendant of this charge,” said the judge.

In Memoriam: Jasmina Ahmetspahic

Beautiful Bosniak girl Jasmina Ahmetspahic, did not allow  Bosnian Serb soldiers to rape her, instead she committed suicide by jumping through a window in the Vilina Vlas spa hotel.

We will never forget!

Jasmina Ahmetspahic (28.01.1968 – 14.06.1992)

Read more:

+ Rape Warfare in Visegrad

+ Investigation: Visegrad rape victimes say their crie go unherd

+ Genocidal rape in Visegrad (VIDEO REPORT)

What is the Visegrad Genocide?

The Višegrad genocide was an act of ethnic cleansing and mass murder of Bosniak civilians that occurred in the town of Višegrad in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, committed by Bosnian Serb Army and Police forces at the start of the Bosnian War during the spring of 1992. Over a period of four months, Bosniaks were murdered, tortured, raped and publicly humiliated on a daily basis in Visegrad’s streets, in the victim homes and in concentration camps.

Image: Exhumation of Bosniak genocide victims in Straziste cemetary, Visegrad, 2009.

According to ICTY documents, based on  victims reports, some 3,000 Bosniaks were murdered during the violence in Višegrad and its surrounding, including some 600 women and 119 children. It is estimated that over a hundred Bosniak women were raped by Bosnian Serbs which was part of a systematic genocidal rape warfare used by the Bosnian Serb Army and Police throughout occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Višegrad genocide was one of the worst during the Bosnian Genocide 1992-95 because it was mostly committed by local Serbs and  it occurred over a period of several months:

April-May was marked by the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army occupation on 15 April; arrests and murders of Bosniak intellectuals, looting, beatings, by Bosnian Serb Police and Yugoslav Peoples’ Army;

June-July was marked with systematic destruction of mosques and other Islamic architecture, several massacres of Bosniak civilians by Bosnian Serb Army including the Barimo massacre, Bosanska Jagodina massacre, Paklenik massacre and the infamous Bikavac and Pioneer Street live pyres where dozens of Bosniak civilians – elderly, women and children(including a two-day old baby) were burnt alive; besides these outragest crimes, the most brutal were committed on the Ottoman Mehmed-pasa Sokolovic Bridge where for weeks, Bosniak civilians were brought to the bridge, murdered either by knife or gun and thrown into the river Drina;

August – by this time, most of Visegrad’s Bosniak population was murdered, raped, deported or exchanged. There were still Bosniaks in concentration camps like Uzamnica military camp or Vilina Vlas, the infamous spa motel-turned rape motel were hundreds of Bosniak women were raped numerous times by Bosnian Serb Army and Police. A little known fact is that until 1995, in Višegrad, there were dozens of Bosniaks who were working as forced labour on private and community farms. They were exchanged by wars end in 1995.

→ Until today the following have been convicted for war crimes convicted  in Visegrad:

1 )Novo Rajak;

2 )Nenad Tanaskovic;

3 )Boban Simsic;

4 )Zeljko Lelek;

5 )Momir Savic;

6 )Milan Lukic;

7 )Sredoje Lukic;

8 )Mitar Vasiljevic

Read more :

+ Crisis Committee Visegrad(Krizni štab)

+ Eliticide in Visegrad

+ Destruction of mosques in Visegrad Municipality

+ Visegrad Genocide Denial

Visegrad’s Forgotten Live Pyres

In Visegrad there were two well-known live pyres: The Pioneer Street and the Bikavac live pyre. However there were a couple more live pyres which little is known about since there were no survivors. Here is the story of one of them.

In the center of Visegrad, in the JNA Street(popularly known as Jondza), in Esad Brankovic‘s house around a dozen Bosniak civilians were burnt alive.

This included: Vezima Hasecic(1952, the daughter of Demir Osman);  Nermina(Remze)Hasecic(1977); Alma(Remze) Hasecic(1977); Osman Demir; Nefa Demir; Sulejmena(Mustafa)Tvrtkovic; Abida (Omerovic)Tvrtkovic and Selim (Sulejmena)Tvrtkovic(1975). They were last seen in Zulfo Hasecic’s house. The suspected perpetrators of this crime is the infamous Bosnian Serb Army Special Unit popularly known as the “Avengers”, “White Eagles” or “Garavi Sokak” which were led by Milan Lukic.

Image: Selim(Suljemena)Tvrtkovic born 1975.

Image: In the center with dark hair, Nermin(Remze)Hasecic born 1977.

Image: In the middle, Alma(Remze)Hasecic born in 1981.

No one has yet answered for this live pyre. Visegrad Serb authorities have constantly obscured investigations and exhumations. The victim remains have most probably been moved to another location.

During the Visegrad Genocide around 120 children were murdered or burnt alive by Visegrad’s Bosnian Serb Army soldiers or Bosnian Serb Police.

Read more:

+ Kurspahic, The Koritnik Tragedy

+ Bikavac Live Pyre

+ Destruction of Mosques in Visegrad Municipality

+ Bloody Trail of Butchery at the Bridge , Roy Gutman

+ Eliticide in Visegrad