SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES DESTROYED IN AREAS CONTROLLED BY SO-CALLED ARMY OF BiH

SARAJEVO, MAY 21 /SRNA/ - The so-called Army of BiH and Bosniak Muslims "protected" and "preserved" certain Serbian Orthodox Church buildings, chapels and parish homes in such a way that not even their foundations remain, Đorđe Radanović, president of the Committee for the Protection of Serb Rights in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, told SRNA.

Referring to a statement signed by Bosniak Muslim leaders on March 18 at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library in Sarajevo, in which they claimed to have "preserved" key religious and cultural sites and content belonging to other peoples, the Committee posed "three key questions" to the signatories. The first question concerns who set fire to and repeatedly mined the Serbian Orthodox Chapel of St. John the Theologian and the parish home in Goražde. Radanović reminded that Goražde was controlled by the so-called Army of BiH and that Bosniak Muslims made up the overwhelming majority there. "All Serb Christians were expelled from Goražde in June 1992. This was officially stated by the commander of UN forces in BiH in 1994. Although he was generally sympathetic toward the Bosniak Muslim side during his UNPROFOR service, General Michael Rose stated that 12,500 Serbs had been expelled from Goražde", Radanović specified. The second question concerns who burned, shelled and mined the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in the Čardak settlement near Zavidovići. Radanović noted that the area in and around Zavidovići was also controlled by the so-called Army of BiH. "Extremist Muslim units operated in Zavidovići and the surrounding area, partially or fully manned by volunteers from Asian and African countries", Radanović reminded. He added that those units were legally recognized as an integral part of the Third Corps of the so-called Army of BiH. "These are the units that /then-Muslim leader/ Alija Izetbegović reviewed and greeted with religious slogans", Radanović pointed out. The third question concerns who burned down and completely destroyed the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Majkić Japra near Sanski Most. "After the Fifth Corps of the so-called Army of BiH captured Sanski Most and surrounding settlements in October 1995, their forces burned all Serbian Orthodox churches in Sanski Most and the surrounding area. Among others, they burned the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Majkić Japra", Radanović stressed. He added that the Committee has already pointed out that churches in Požarnica near Tuzla, the Cathedral Church in Mostar, the old church in Gornja Jasenica near Srebrenik, the church in Golo Brdo Zimča near Visoko, the Milanovac Monastery near Sanski Most, the church in Vrelo near Cazin, the church in Kljevci near Sanski Most and the church in Budimlić Japra near Krupa were also burned and mined in areas controlled by the so-called Army of BiH. Chapels in Karaula near Kakanj and Mutnica near Zenica were also destroyed, along with churches in Jelašinovci, Lipnik, and Dabar near Sanski Most, the church in Stog near Zavidovići, the church in Bilješevo near Kakanj, the church in Dubnica near Kalesija, the church in Kopači in Novo Goražde, the church in Vitovlje near Travnik and the church in the Bihać settlement of Gata. Radanović emphasized that all these churches and chapels were burned and mined while the so-called Army of BiH exercised effective control over the territories where the churches were located. "Now we are dealing with how the so-called Army of BiH and the Bosniak Muslim signatories protected and preserved Serbian Orthodox Church buildings, chapels and parish homes. Some were so well protected and preserved that not even their foundations remain", Radanović stressed. He added that for Orthodox Serbs and Christians, nothing is more important than the Church. "If this is how they protected Serbian churches, as the key sites of Serbian religious identity, how did other, less significant objects and content of the religious and cultural identity of Serbs - Orthodox Christians,fare?” Radanović asked.