TOMORROW MARKS 34 YEARS SINCE BRUTAL CRIME AGAINST SERBS IN BRADINA

BRADINA, MAY 24 /SRNA/ - The 34th anniversary of a brutal crime committed by Bosniak and Croat units will be marked tomorrow in Bradina near Konjic, in which 48 residents of this Serb village were killed, and others were expelled and taken to camps.

Over three days, from May 25 to 27, 1992, Bosniak and Croat perpetrators threw 26 bodies into a pit in front of the Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Bradina. Another 22 Serb civilians lost their lives in camps, while five people are still missing. Among the 48 Serbs killed in Bradina, the largest number were members of the Kuljanin family, and among the victims were also members of the Vujičić, Mrkajić, Žuža, Kureš, Gligorević, Koprivica, Draganić, and Živac families. The remaining Serb population was expelled from their homes, their movable property was looted, and their houses and church were set on fire. Before the war, Bradina had 280 Serb houses with around 1,200 inhabitants. No one has yet been held accountable for the crime in Bradina, although a long-running trial is ongoing before the Court of BiH against several former members of the so-called Army of BiH and the HVO in the case “Esad Ramić and others,” who are accused of murders, torture, and persecution of the Serb population in Bradina and surrounding areas. One of the accused for direct involvement in the killings in Bradina was Miralem Macić, but proceedings against him were discontinued due to his death. Also, for crimes in the Čelebići and Musala camps, where Serbs from Bradina were detained, several individuals were previously tried before the Hague Tribunal and domestic courts. The Ministry of the Interior of Republika Srpska previously filed six criminal complaints, reports, and supplements against 18 identified individuals who are suspected of having committed one or more war crimes in Bradina between May 25 and 26, 1992. Following the investigation and collection of evidence, it was established that members of the Bosniak armed forces planned, organized, and carried out an operation in which Bradina and the surrounding villages were destroyed and ethnically cleansed of the Serb population. The Holy Liturgy is served once a year, as no Orthodox population lives in Bradina anymore. The Liturgy will be served tomorrow at 10:00 by His Eminence, Metropolitan Dimitrije of Zahumlje-Herzegovina and the Littoral.