SELAK: HOW CAN VICTIMS' FAMILIES EVER SEE JUSTICE?

GRADIŠKA, MAY 1 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Minister of Justice Goran Selak says that even 31 years later, no one has been held accountable for the pogrom of 15,000 Serbs from Western Slavonia and the war crimes committed against Serbs in this area, which at the time of the Croatian operation Flash was under UN protection.

"There is no a single court ruling in BiH, Croatia, or the countries of the region. How can the families of the victims ever see justice?" Selak told SRNA in Gradiška, where he attended the marking of the 31st anniversary of the pogrom of Serbs from Western Slavonia during operation Flash. Selak called on judicial institutions in BiH and Croatia to do their job so that justice can be achieved for the victims, the Serbs expelled from Western Slavonia who suffered from 1991 to 1995. "We know that there are almost no Serbs left in Croatia, which is why Republika Srpska today sends a message that it is important to nurture a culture of remembrance and never forget the suffering of Serbs in Western Slavonia," Selak emphasized. He added that Republika Srpska and Serbia, under the leadership of Milorad Dodik and Aleksandar Vučić, have included such events in a calendar of special significance for the Serb people and commemorate them together. "We mark these dates of suffering of the Serb people so that we never forget, but with the message that such crimes must never happen again," Selak said. On May 1, 1995, Croatian armed forces carried out an offensive under the codename "Flash" against the Serb-controlled region of Western Slavonia, which was part of Republika Srpska Krajina, at a time when the area was under UN protection. In this operation, within just 36 hours, 15,000 Serbs were expelled and at least 263 were killed, including 107 civilians, among whom were 12 children.