SERB VICTIMS OF JEŽESTICA REMEMBERED AT MEMORIAL SERVICE

BRATUNAC, AUGUST 8 /SRNA/ – A memorial service was held today at a monument in the Bratunac village of Ježestica, where candles were lit for the repose of the souls of 39 local residents killed in the 1992-1995 Defensive-Patriotic War, including eight women, as well as for Serbs from the village killed in the Second World War.

Bratunac Mayor Lazar Prodanović said that some of the most brutal crimes were committed in Ježestica, including a horrific case of beheading. "Unfortunately, and to the shame of the judiciary of BiH, no one has been held accountable for this or other crimes against Serbs in the Podrinje region, and we will not give up our demand that the perpetrators be prosecuted," Prodanović said. He called on the families of those killed, former soldiers and the Serb population to preserve the culture of remembrance, to ensure that young people learn about the struggle and suffering of the Serb people for freedom, remember it and never forget it, and not allow themselves to suffer the same fate because of forgetting. Željko Lazić, president of the Presidency of the Bratunac Veterans' Organization, said that Ježestica was constantly attacked, almost every weekend, and that on Aug. 8 numerous Muslim forces entered the village and abused the local population. "They killed, slaughtered, beheaded and burned homes that August day. Ježestica suffered particularly badly on Orthodox Christmas in 1993, when Kravica was also attacked. Here, brothers would not leave one another behind; they died together, just as fathers would not leave their sons or brothers behind. They defended their village and Republika Srpska and gave their lives," Lazić stressed. Surviving residents say they had not attacked anyone and that Muslims from Srebrenica repeatedly attacked their village. On August 8, the residents said, Muslim forces burned half the village, killed eight people and looted some property before military assistance arrived and drove them back to their lines. No one has been held accountable for the brutal killings, which the residents say is an injustice and a source of pain caused by the BiH judiciary. Among those killed on this day in 1992 were brothers Dragan and Anđelko Mlađenović and their mother Savka. The perpetrators first killed her sons in front of her and then slaughtered her. Anđelko was beheaded and his head was taken to Srebrenica as a "trophy," where Muslim soldiers tied it to a car and drove through the streets displaying it to a gathered crowd, which danced and celebrated while looking at the "Chetnik's head." Video recordings of the incident have been preserved. Dragan's son Nenad laid flowers at the monument today and paid tribute to his father, uncle, grandmother and grandfather. "I come from a family that lost everything in the Second World War. My grandfather Ljubomir's daughter and pregnant wife were killed, along with his brother and his children, as well as his parents. No one was held accountable. In the last war, his wife and two sons were killed, and again no one was held accountable," Nenad emphasized. He said that these crimes would never be forgotten, but that he still hoped justice would prevail and the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Radojka Filipović, president of the Bratunac Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians, told SRNA that Ježestica was one of the largest Serb villages in the Bratunac municipality and was repeatedly attacked because it stood in the way of attempts to capture Kravica, which Muslims regarded as a Serb stronghold. "The first victim here was killed on May 22, 1992, when Mile Ostojić was killed. The attacks continued, and on August 8 eight villagers were killed, including two women. The victims included brothers Dragan and Anđelko Mlađenović and their mother Savka," Filipović said. She said that Savka witnessed her son Dragayn being struck in the head with an axe, while Anđelko was beheaded with an axe and his head taken to Srebrenica. After killing her sons, the perpetrators also killed their mother. "It is known that Anđelko was beheaded by Kemal Mehmedović from the Srebrenica village of Pale. As a reward, Naser Orić gave him 10 German marks and a sack of flour," Filipović said, adding that Mehmedović also tortured Nenad Rankić and cut off parts of his body while he was being burned alive in Potočari in May 1992. She noted that Ježestica also suffered during the Second World War, when 162 Serbs were killed, and said the village was an example of the continuity of Serb suffering and Muslim crimes in an effort to ethnically cleanse the area so that no Serbs would remain on the left bank of the Drina River. Following the memorial service, flowers were laid at the monument by Bratunac Mayor Lazar Prodanović and Srebrenica Mayor Miloš Vučić, delegations of families of those killed from Ježestica, the Veterans' Organization and the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Persons of Bratunac, a delegation of the Birač Region Camp Inmates Association, and associations of missing persons from Bratunac and Srebrenica. The names of those killed, engraved on the monument, testify that they gave their lives for freedom and that they died without anyone being held accountable for the crimes. On August 8, 1992, Muslim forces from Srebrenica, under the command of Naser Orić, entered Ježestica and killed nine villagers in fields and homes, while looting and burning the village. From 1942 to 1945, 162 members of the Serb people were killed, only a few of them soldiers from the village. The names of all those killed are engraved on this monument alongside the names of those killed in the last war, in remembrance and gratitude.