DODIK: BEĆIROVIĆ SPOKE LIES AT A PLACE OF GRIEF

BIJELJINA, JULY 12 /SRNA/ – The President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik told SRNA that at the commemorative gathering in Potočari, they attempted to present a false political narrative about what happened in Srebrenica in July 1995.

"When you add the fake [Christian] Schmidt to that, then the entire falsehood gains its full meaning," Dodik said. The President of Srpska pointed out that Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović, in his address at yesterday’s gathering, falsely, irresponsibly, and furiously fabricated various accusations against the Serb side. "Following the principle of the old false narrative, he does not hesitate to accuse Serbia of alleged involvement, even though the International Court of Justice stated that Serbia did not participate. However, this did not stop them from lying, counting on the idea that by constantly repeating lies they would manage to impose something that never happened," said Dodik. Dodik emphasised that Serbia and the Serbian people are Bećirović’s constant targets. "The target is Serbia, as the most important country in the Balkans, a country that contributes to stability and peace and which, under the leadership of Aleksandar Vučić, preserves that peace and absolutely eliminates any possibility of conflict," Dodik said, adding that Serbia cannot remain silent and must say that a lie is a lie. The President of Srpska stressed that a terrible crime did happen in Srebrenica and that he feels sorrow for the innocent victims. "Muslims must one day understand that those who died in Srebrenica were soldiers killed in armed conflict, not civilians. Although they would like to turn every uniformed soldier into a civilian," Dodik said. He pointed out that, unlike Serb politicians who remained silent on the day when Bosniak families mourn and have the right for their pain not to be touched, Bećirović touched that pain with lies and told lies at a place of grief. "I think it would have been dignified if he had spoken about the families’ grief. Everything he said about the role of Serbs, about genocide, about Serbia, Vučić, and much more, was a lie," Dodik said. The President of Srpska stated that he did not intend to hurt anyone, any Muslim victim or any Muslim person, but wanted to point out that Bećirović is a politician who persistently and systematically lies. He highlighted that Bećirović constantly mentions Serbia and “aggression [against BiH],” reminding that it was never established as aggression and that the Dayton Agreement described it as a tragic conflict in the region. "How is it possible that we Serbs are aggressors against our own country? They try to attribute the actions of paramilitary formations that came from Serbia as the official stance of Serbia. They had the El Mujaheed unit, which had 4,500 holy Islamic warriors, who were classic killers, promoted and reviewed by Alija Izetbegović himself," Dodik said. Moreover, he added, Šefik Džaferović, former head of the Security Centre, who witnessed the killing of Serbs, never raised the question of accountability for those who committed them. Dodik said that Bećirović is entrenched in a chain of lies and does not hesitate to slander and lie about Serbs in any appearance, and then demands that Serbs remain silent. "What is even more dangerous is that he holds the office of a member of the BiH Presidency and claims to be devoted to peace and tolerance, yet he has never mentioned the excerpt from Ibran Mustafić’s book describing how Naser Orić killed Judge Slobodan Ilić. Do you think that is not enough for someone to condemn Orić? Obviously, for Muslims, that is not enough," Dodik said. He also said that Bećirović never tried to uncover who and why attempted to assassinate Vučić in Potočari. "So many years have passed, and nothing has happened," Dodik said. Commenting on Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s speech in Potočari, Dodik said it would be decent if Plenković did not flaunt terms like genocide, given that his own nation has some unresolved issues regarding Jasenovac and other places. "Yesterday I said I would not comment, but today I must address these political lies they are trying to establish as a narrative," Dodik said. He stated that more than 8,000 people were not killed in Srebrenica. "The fact is that in July 1995 there were 33,000 people in Srebrenica, of whom 28,000 left freely, by bus, including women and children. General Ratko Mladić saw them off and told them they had nothing to fear. And that is exactly what happened – they went to the territory under Muslim control. This means there cannot be 8,000 killed, as they claim," Dodik said. He emphasized that Srpska has expressed its official stance, which includes accepting the report of the Independent Commission that established the nature of the crime in Srebrenica and the number of victims. "Srpska shares the grief and pain of the families," Dodik said. Regarding the religious part, Dodik said that the Head of the Islamic Community in BiH, Husein Kavazović, went beyond that, turning it into politics. "Kavazović cannot speak about political qualifications of the events. We respect everything that represents religious marking of the events, as we respect the grief, the gathering, and the laying of flowers," Dodik said. Commenting on the fact that Serbian media from Republika Srpska and Serbia were not granted accreditation to cover the commemorative gathering in Potočari, Dodik said this shows what kind of openness they have and how willing they are to cooperate.