ĆOSIĆ: SUFFERING OF SERBS IN TRNOVO MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN

TRNOVO, JULY 30 /SRNA/ - East Sarajevo Mayor Ljubiša Ćosić said today in Trnovo that 1992 was the most tragic year for the Serb people in that area, and that the crimes committed against Serbs in this municipality must never be forgotten.

Ćosić said that respects were paid today to the civilians and soldiers of Republika Srpska who were killed in the Defense-Patriotic War, and that memories were recalled of the events from 1992, when the residents of Trnovo were brutally attacked by members of the so-called Army of BiH. He reminded that a little less than a third of a century has passed since a large number of civilians from Trnovo were killed on this day, noting that no one could have imagined a crime of such scale would be committed in July 1992. "People were attacked early in the morning by their former neighbors. In addition to the loss of human lives, enormous material damage was inflicted on Trnovo," said Ćosić. According to him, because of all of this, the crimes against Serbs in Trnovo must not be forgotten. "If we forget them, we may find ourselves in a situation where they happen again," said Ćosić. He pointed to good cooperation between the city and municipal authorities, and emphasized that, although still a highly underdeveloped municipality, Trnovo today appears revitalized. "One part of our work is preserving the culture of remembrance and caring for the residents of Trnovo. Trnovo is the southern and very important gateway to the City of East Sarajevo. The municipal leadership is making efforts and doing its job," Ćosić said. Members of the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Trnovo, in cooperation with the municipal administration, marked today the Day of Suffering of the Serb population in that municipality in the Defense-Patriotic War. Members of the so-called Army of BiH committed the most heinous crimes against Serbs in the area of Trnovo, and even the children were not spared the murderous hand of criminals. The youngest civilian victim in the Trnovo area was 18 months old, and the oldest was 96. During the war from 1992 to 1995, 101 civilian victims were killed in Trnovo and surrounding villages, while 130 fighters from Trnovo laid down their lives defending their homes from the aggressor.