TUŠEVLJAK: VANDALIZING MEMORIAL PLAQUE IS ATTEMPT TO PROVOKE GREATER INCIDENT

EAST NOVO SARAJEVO, April 28 /SRNA/ – Dragiša Tuševljak, President of the Veterans' Organization of the Municipality of East Novo Sarajevo, stated—regarding the defacement of the memorial plaque at Vrace - that Bosniaks aim to provoke a larger incident, and emphasized that coexistence with them has become impossible.

"This is yet another message from our neighbors regarding the new Constitution of Republika Srpska and the defense of the President of Srpska," said Tuševljak, who today visited the location of the memorial plaque at Vrace. He told reporters that the plaque offends no one and has been vandalized multiple times. Tuševljak stated that he expected political representatives from Sarajevo and BiH-level institutions to speak out and condemn these incidents, but that has never happened. He added that the police have conducted an investigation, and that the Veterans' Organization will file a damage claim and request the security authorities to review video surveillance footage in order to identify the perpetrator. Tuševljak said the public utility company "Rad" will be hired to clean the plaque and that the letters will need to be repainted. An unknown perpetrator poured oily green paint, once again desecrating the memorial plaque at Vrace dedicated to General Ratko Mladić, which commemorates the self-organization of Serbs during the most difficult times in an effort to protect their centuries-old homesteads. The plaque, mounted on the wall of the Vrace Memorial Park, has been vandalized several times, most recently on August 29, 2023. In February last year, the Court of General Jurisdiction in Sokolac found Elvis Gurda and Esad Jašarević guilty of damaging the memorial plaque at Vrace and ruled that they must pay BAM 6,000, of which BAM 5,000 is to be paid to the Veterans' Organization of East Novo Sarajevo. The Veterans' Organization of East Novo Sarajevo installed the plaque in 2014 on the section of the Vrace Memorial Park that lies within Republika Srpska.