SKELANI - SYMBOL OF SUFFERING OF INNOCENT SERBS

SREBRENICA, JANUARY 16 /SRNA/ - Skelani is a symbol of Serb suffering in the eastern part of Republika Srpska, where on this day in 1993, 69 residents were killed; it was the final act of a well-organized plan carried out by perpetrators under the command of Naser Orić, said Branimir Kojić, the president of the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica.

Kojić expressed regret that "many Serbs do not understand the scale of this suffering; many continue to cooperate with criminals, play with the fates of families, and further reopen Serb wounds". "Skelani is a symbol of Serb suffering in this part of Republika Srpska and, as such, must be a place of respect. This suffering should be spoken about by the families of those who were killed and by those who survived these ordeals, not by people who have been enriching themselves for years at the expense of this crime," Kojić told SRNA. On the other hand, he noted, Muslims will today mourn all those who stormed Skelani and have for years portrayed them as victims of Serb aggression, whereas the truth is completely different. "We know that none of the foreign officials will be in Skelani, but they will appear at Kraljeve Vode, where a memorial complex has been built for the perpetrators who killed Serb civilians in Skelani," Kojić said. He recalled that today marks 33 years since the brutal crime against the Serb population of the former Skelani municipality, when 69 Serbs were killed, mostly civilians, including four children and 15 women, while a total of 305 Serbs were killed in the wider Skelani area. "Skelani was the final act of a well-organized plan carried out by Naser's executioners, who within a single month attacked the Serb villages of Bjelovac, Kravica, and Skelani, killing 186 Serbs in just those three attacks… Only nine days after the bloody Christmas in Kravica, while they were still looting symbols of Serb identity in this area," Kojić said. He noted that the perpetrators exhumed the graves of prominent Serbs from Kravica with the intention of further desecrating them, and that the group of attackers then descended on Skelani and all surrounding villages with the same aim - to kill everyone bearing a Serb name. According to him, members of the notorious Orić units spared no one belonging to the Serb people. He stated that on that day, Cvetko Ristić lost his entire family, all of whom were killed on the doorstep of their home, not as attackers, but as people on their ancestral homestead. "Mother Milica Dimitrijević, in an attempt to flee to Serbia with her three underage sons, was forced to witness the death of her sons Aleksandar /5/ and Radisav /12/, while Slaviša, who was driving, was wounded," Kojić said. He emphasized that Serbs were killed even on the territory of Serbia, as crossing the bridge in Skelani was not a guarantee of survival. According to him, the Sekulić family knows this because on that day Gordana was also killed on the bridge while fleeing to Serbia, holding her sons in her arms, and the one who watched and pulled the trigger was certainly not a human being, but a monster. Kojić added that snipers were positioned with a single goal, which was fully carried out. "The bridge in Skelani was not a bridge of life, but a bridge over which one went into eternity," Kojić stated, emphasizing that the families of the victims have received no justice, as the courts remain silent on this crime, which contains all the elements of genocide. "Until the truth comes to light, the families of the Serb victims will not believe in coexistence, in BiH, or in good relations. What remains for us is never to forget and to eternally remind the whole world of what we experienced and survived," Kojić concluded.