DODIK: SREBRENICA AND BRATUNAC - OPEN SERBIAN WOUNDS AND SHAME OF THOSE WHO REMAIN SILENT

BANJA LUKA, JULY 12 /SRNA/ – The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik emphasized that Zalazje, Sase, Biljača, and Zagoni, villages in the municipalities of Srebrenica and Bratunac, are not just sites of crimes, but open wounds, the cries of mothers, a silence that destroys, and the shame of those who remain silent and do not speak about this brutal crime committed by Muslims against innocent Serb people on this day 33 years ago.

“In the villages of Srebrenica and Bratunac, where a brutal massacre of Serbs occurred on Petrovdan in 1992, it is not about numbers, but about people who have names and surnames, who are someone’s children, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, who were tortured, burned, and killed simply because they were Serbs, and today, 33 years later, they are still targets of oblivion and silence by judicial authorities,” Dodik told SRNA. He reminded that Serbs in Srebrenica and Bratunac were killed in ambushes, in their homes, at their slava tables, and unarmed, which makes the brutality of this crime even greater. “It is our duty to speak the truth. It is shameful to remain silent. It is shameful that the world remains silent about the suffering of Serbs. But we will not, and must not. That is why we always remember with pain and respect the suffering of Serb civilians and soldiers in Srebrenica and Bratunac, where within a few hours, 69 Serbs were killed in the most brutal way, while 22 went missing. Ten of them were found and exhumed in 2011 from a mass grave in Zalazje during the search for killed Bosniaks,” Dodik emphasized. No one has been held accountable for this Petrovdan massacre in 1992, despite numerous pieces of evidence and testimonies submitted to judicial institutions in BiH. “The suffering in these villages is not only a symbol of Serb suffering in Podrinje, but also a testimony to the brutality of war and to the attitude of judicial institutions that persistently remain silent about crimes against Serbs,” the President of Srpska stressed. He said that for political Sarajevo and a large part of the international community, crimes against Serbs seem not to exist, which is a shameful and dangerous policy that does not contribute to reconciliation and normal life. “The pain of every mother is the same, and there can be no and must be no difference between victims. Every victim is the same, and every pain is the same; therefore, justice must be the same for all,” Dodik said. He emphasised that the institutions of Republika Srpska will continue to nurture the culture of remembrance, truth, and respect for Serb victims, with a clear message that forgetting is not and must not be an option. “Srebrenica and Bratunac oblige us to this. And not only to remember, but also to seek justice for all the killed, because these are places where the cries never cease, where silence speaks louder than words, and where a crime was committed that does not expire,” Dodik stressed. He stated that justice for Serb victims in BiH has been trampled for years. “Isn’t a crime against Serbs a crime? Do our tears worth less? If anyone thinks we will remain silent, they are greatly mistaken. Zalazje, Sase, Biljača, and Zagoni are not forgotten – and never will be. We do not seek revenge. We seek only the truth that the killers and their accomplices buried along with the bodies of our martyrs. And that is why we do not forget, we do not give up, because these places are our pledge, because people were killed, but also the truth about their suffering,” said Dodik. He emphasised that Republika Srpska has a historical and moral obligation to preserve the truth about Zalazje, Kravica, Skelani, Bratunac, Sarajevo, Drinjača, Stari Brod, Kozara, Romanija, Herzegovina, Glođansko Hill… about every drop of innocent Serbian blood shed and left without justice. “As long as one Serb child knows about these places – the truth lives. As long as there is someone to say: ‘Here was a crime against our people’ – the truth lives. That is why we remember and do not forget. That is why we seek and speak the truth in the name of all our killed ancestors. They were killed simply because they were Serbs, but they will not silence us, we will speak every day, because if we remain silent, they kill us again, and we must not and will not allow that,” Dodik said. The President of Srpska pointed out that today we have our Republika Srpska, our homeland, our institutions that we must protect, because if we do not defend, protect, and preserve them, together and united, we will again be an easy target for destruction. “We have seen that in earlier periods when we did not have our own state, and that is why today we have an even greater obligation and duty to protect our Srpska for current and future generations. Only a nation that has their own state and institutions is safe. Let us protect Republika Srpska from those who constantly seek to take it away from us, to take away our property, our graves, our everything, because Republika Srpska is our present and our future,” President Dodik said for SRNA on the occasion of marking the 33rd anniversary of the crimes in the Srebrenica and Bratunac villages on Petrovdan in 1992.