34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST POLICE PARADE MARKED

SOKOLAC, MARCH 30 /SRNA/ – The 34th anniversary of the first militia parade of Srpska Republika of BiH, today's Republika Srpska Police, was marked in Sokolac today, emphasizing that Republika Srpska might not exist today had the police members at that time not stood in defence of the homeland.

On this occasion, a reception was organized at the Sokolac municipal building, candles were lit and wreaths laid at the Central Memorial, and memories were recalled of the 784 Interior Ministry members fell for the creation of Republika Srpska. Radovan Pejić, the head of the Republika Srpska Security Services Veterans, Istočno Sarajevo branch office, says that veterans do not allow the date to fall into oblivion, recalling that on this day the first parade of the militia of the Srpska Republika of BiH was held at the Bara stadium in Sokolac, after the adoption of the Constitution and the Law on Internal Affairs of Srpska Republika of BiH. "At that time the late Zoran Cvijetić delivered a report to the first Interior Minister Mićo Stanišić, which marked the beginning of the functioning of the Ministry of Interior as the only legal armed force in the Serb-controlled territory," Pejić recalled. Deputy Chair of the Presidency of the Republika Srpska War Veterans Organisation Goran Šehovac said that MoI members had had an important role in the defence of Republika Srpska. "Police officers, our comrades-in-arms, were very important and made great sacrifices that are built into the foundations of Republika Srpska," Šehovac told the press. Former head of the Public Security Station Pale and participant in the first line-up of the militia of Srpska Repubika of BiH, Malko Koroman, said that at the beginning of 1992 police officers had to stand in defence of the homeland to prevent the Serb people of the Romanija region from suffering the fate of their ancestors. He recalled that today in 1992 around 300 police officers of the then SAO Romanija were lined-up and, with full honors, the Ministry of Interior was formed. Sokolac Mayor Strahinja Bašević noted that it is no coincidence that many institutions were established in the area of today’s Istočno Sarajevo City after the breakup of the then BiH and the formation of Srpska Republika BiH, later Republika Srpska. According to him, since March 30, 1992 there has existed an institution that protects the security of all citizens of Republika Srpska, many of whose members were killed defending it. Participants in the marking of this date, significant for the defence of the Sarajevo–Romanija region people, the creation of the police and the Ministry of Interior, as well as the Republika Srpska Army, also visited the memorial room in Sokolac which contains 630 photographs of fallen Serb soldiers. On March 30, 1992, the first parade of the Srpska Republika of BiH militia – today’s Republika Srpska Police was held at the football stadium in Sokolac. On that day, the then Interior Minister of the Serb Autonomous Region of Romanija, Zoran Cvijetić, delivered a report to the first Minister of Interior of Srpska Republika of BiH, Mićo Stanišić, after which the police officers gave a ceremonial statement and took their oath.