DODIK: SERB VICTIMS’ DEATH WOULD COME THROUGH FORGFULNESS - THIS MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED

BRATUNAC, JULY 5 /SRNA/ –Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik has stated today in Bratunac, during the commemoration of 33 years since the Serbs’ suffering in central Podrinje and Birač, when 3,267 Serbs were killed during the Defensive-Patriotic War, that the victims must not be forgotten, warning that their death would only truly occur once people stop talking about them.

Dodik emphasized that this must never be allowed to happen. Recalling many execution sites of Serbs, he said that they are all connected by the mass suffering of Serbs that happened in different eras, but that the perpetrators were always the same. Dodik says the families of more than 3,000 murdered people in the Bratunac region are still waiting for justice. "They know everything, just as we do - how Slobodan Ilić, a judge, was slaughtered and had his eyes gouged out. The court in Sarajevo ruled that Naser Orić was not responsible for this gruesome crime," Dodik said. He added that most of the families, just like the Ilić family, know the names of the murderers, pointing out that many of them were once neighbours who, at the first opportunity, inflicted harm. "They erased themselves from being neighbours and registered themselves as criminals who still freely walk around this area," Dodik said in his address at the Bratunac cemetery, where today marks 33 years since the unpunished crime against Serbs from Birač and central Podrinje. Dodik says innocent children were killed here, mostly those caught in their homes during major Serb holidays. "They killed with zeal, always where it hurts the most," Dodik said. He stressed that, apart from the victims' names, nothing else is officially acknowledged here, adding that neither the masterminds nor the perpetrators of the crimes are officially named, even though the perpetrators are well known. "That leaves us no other conclusion except that Sarajevo is defending the crime committed here in Bratunac," Dodik stated. The president of Srpska said that the goal was to create a barrier between Srpska and Serbia and to fragment the Serb people by labeling them differently - calling them Bosnian Serbs here, Croatian Serbs there… He recalled that criminals like Orić still walk free and cynically smile, satisfied that justice has not reached them, proud of their killings. Dodik said that there was once a naive belief that justice lived within the international community, but the people have realized that injustice resides there instead. "They tried to portray Serbs as criminals and other nations as victims. I no longer believe them at all. They are not here today; even if they were, I wouldn’t know what to say to them. I am proud of the Russian ambassador who is always with us," Dodik said. The president of Srpska added that killing for three continuous years, persistently and systematically, speaks volumes about the organised nature of the crime. He is convinced there will never be justice. "It is important that we gather here. We must not forget these people; otherwise, we would kill them again," Dodik said. He stressed that the Serb people today are calling for truth and reconciliation. "Our ancestors, who remained here despite countless invaders, and our descendants, who continue to live here despite everything, oblige us to seek justice," Dodik said. He stated that the goal of the crimes against Serbs – creation of a unitary Bosnia - will never be realised. "Nowadays, Sarajevo protects the criminals who were killing people. We respect the grief of the mothers wearing white scarves. What more do you want from us? I feel sorry for those mothers, but if they think that the grief of mothers wearing black scarves doesn’t matter, then I cannot accept that," Dodik said. He emphasized that Serbs did not commit genocide in Srebrenica but acknowledged that a terrible crime occurred. "Let them gather in seven days and express their grief," Dodik said, adding that every single Serb has been subjected to torture by both local and international courts.