NUŽDIĆ: CRIME IN SIJEKOVAC CAN RIGHTLY BE CALLED CRIME WITHOUT PUNISHMENT

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 25 /SRNA/ - The crime in Sijekovac can rightly be called a crime without punishment, as only one person has been convicted for killings, abuse, looting, deportations to camps, and the destruction of families, the Acting Director of the Republika Srpska Center for Research on War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons Viktor Nuždić told SRNA.

"Unfortunately, to this day, neither international judicial institutions nor those at the level of BiH have dealt with this crime in a way that would lead to the prosecution of those who ordered it and those who directly carried it out," Nuždić told SRNA. He pointed out that a special place in collective memory is held by Milja Zečević, who lost three sons and her husband, emphasizing that her personal tragedy has become a symbol of suffering, but also of strength and dignity in the face of unimaginable loss. "This crime can rightly be called a crime without punishment, because how else can it be classified if only one man is held accountable and receives 10 years for the killings, abuse, looting, deportations to camps, and the destruction of the Zečević and Milošević families? Is it possible that a single man planned and carried out all these atrocities?" Nuždić asked. He reminded that the first mass crime in the war in BiH, which occurred in Sijekovac, was preceded by the entry of Croatian forces into Brod across the Sava River, accompanied by Ustashe songs, just as had happened 50 years earlier. "Nine Serb civilians were killed on their doorsteps, just as their ancestors were killed in World War II, and their only `fault` was that they were Orthodox Serbs," Nuždić emphasized. He pointed out that the Republika Srpska Center for Research on War, War Crimes, and the Search for Missing Persons has documented this crime, as well as many others, in the Atlas of Crimes Against Serbs, so that they would never be repeated or forgotten. He also stressed that it is important for the institutions of Republika Srpska to commemorate these events and to pay tribute so that the victims are not forgotten. A commemorative event of republic-level significance titled "Croat–Muslim Crime Against Serbs" will be held tomorrow in Sijekovac near Brod, marking 34 years since the incursion of regular Croatian forces and Muslim-Croat paramilitary units into this Serb village and the killing of its residents. On March 26, 1992, the Croatian Army and members of the HOS, together with local Muslim-Croat paramilitary units, carried out an armed attack against the Serb civilian population of Sijekovac, near what was then Bosanski Brod. On that occasion, they killed nine Serbs, members of the Zečević, Milošević, Trifunović, and Radanović families. The youngest victim was 17, and the oldest was 72 years old. The aggressors burned and destroyed 15 houses and an Orthodox church. Only one person has been finally convicted of the crime in Sijekovac. The Committee for Nurturing the Tradition of Liberation Wars of the Government of Republika Srpska is organizing the commemoration marking 34 years since this war crime against Serb civilians.