GRAORAC: THREE DECADES WITHOUT JUSTICE FOR SERB VICTIMS

TRNOVO, JULY 30 /SRNA/ – The Head of the Republika Srpska Organisation of Families of Captured, Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians Isidora Graorac has said today in Trnovo that, even three decades after the war, justice has not been served for Serb victims in one of the municipalities of Republika Srpska that suffered the most.

She emphasized that the majority of those responsible for crimes committed in Trnovo have not been prosecuted, making it essential to preserve the truth and the culture of remembrance. Following a memorial service and the laying of wreaths at the Central Memorial dedicated to 101 innocent civilian victims and 130 soldiers from Trnovo, Graorac said that since the end of the war, the families had expected judicial institutions, primarily the Hague Tribunal, and later the Court of BiH and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, to prosecute those responsible for crimes against Serbs. "We expected those who committed monstrous crimes, especially in Trnovo, one of the municipalities in Republika Srpska that suffered the most, to be held accountable. The opposite happened. Most of those who committed these crimes are still walking free today, and the proceedings that were initiated have not been ended as they should have been," Graorac told the press. She stressed that the truth about the suffering of Serbs must be preserved and permanently documented for future generations so that they will know what sacrifices their ancestors made. The Deputy Chair of Republika Srpska War Veterans Organisation's Presidency, Goran Šehovac, said that Trnovo is the area that suffered the greatest losses in the Sarajevo-Romanija region and one of the municipalities in Republika Srpska that suffered the most, recalling that some of the first crimes against Serbs in BiH were committed there. He emphasized that almost no one has been held accountable for the killings of Serb civilians and soldiers in Trnovo and the surrounding villages, assessing this as a disgrace for the judicial institutions of BiH. Šehovac said that such an approach does not contribute to reconciliation or to building a functional BiH, as the victims' families have still not received justice more than three decades later. "When someone asks why Republika Srpska does not trust the institutions of BiH, here is the answer. It is because no one is in prison for the crimes committed against Serbs in Trnovo and the surrounding villages," Šehovac said. He added that it is especially painful that some individuals convicted of war crimes are now walking freely, while the families of those who were killed gather every year at the memorial to pay tribute to their loved ones. A memorial service was held today at the Central Memorial in Trnovo, where wreaths were laid in honour of 101 innocent civilian victims and 130 soldiers from the municipality who were killed during the Defensive-Patriotic War.