COMMEMORATION OF THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF CRIME AGAINST SERBS IN BRADINA BEGINS

BRADINA, MAY 25 /SRNA/ – The commemoration of 34 years since the heinous crime against 48 Serb civilians in Bradina near Konjic, killed by Muslim - Croat forces members, who subsequently burned this and surrounding villages, began with a Holy Hierarchical Liturgy in the restored Church of the Ascension of the Lord, officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Dimitrije of Zahumlje-Herzegovina and the Littoral.

Following the liturgy, a memorial service for the victims will be held, and wreaths will be laid at the memorial monument in the churchyard. In addition to family members of the Serbs killed in Bradina, those attending the commemoration include Boško Tomić, envoy of the Serb BiH Presidency member, Miroslav Vujičić, member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly; Istočno Sarajevo Mayor Ljubiša Ćosić; and representatives of organisations stemmed from Defensive-Patriotic War. The evildoers of Muslim and Croat forces killed 48 Serb civilians in a particularly brutal manner, expelled others and sent them to prison camps, while the church was burned and demolished. Between May 25 and 27, 1992, 26 bodies were reportedly thrown into a pit in front of the Orthodox church in Bradina. Another 22 Serb civilians died in prison camps, while five persons are still missing. Among the 48 Serbs killed in Bradina, the largest number were members of the Kuljanin family. Victims also included members of the Vujičić, Mrkajić, Žuža, Kureš, Gligorević, Koprivica, Draganić, and Živak families. The remaining Serb population was expelled from their homes, their movable property looted, and their houses and church burned. Before the war, Bradina had 280 Serb households with around 1,200 residents. No one has yet been convicted for the heinous crime in Bradina, although marathon-long proceedings are underway before the Court of BiH against several former members of the Army of BiH and the Croatian Defence Council /HVO/ in the Esad Ramić et al. case“who are charged with killings, torture, and persecution of the Serb population in Bradina and the surrounding area. One of the defendants accused in connection with killings in Bradina, Miralem Macić, died, and proceedings against him were terminated. Several individuals have previously been prosecuted before the Hague Tribunal and local courts for crimes committed in the Čelebići and Musala prison camps, where Serbs from Bradina were detained. The Republika Srpska Interior Ministry previously filed six criminal complaints, reports, and supplements against 18 identified individuals for whom there are grounds for suspicion that they committed one or more war crimes in Bradina between May 25 and 26, 1992. Following the investigation and the collection of evidence, it was determined that members of Muslim armed forces planned, organised, and carried out an operation in which Bradina and nearby villages were destroyed and ethnically cleansed of Serb population. According to the same source, at least 38 identified Serb victims were killed in Bradina on May 25, 1992, five rapes were committed, and several hundred Serbs were unlawfully detained and taken to prison camps, most of them to Čelebići. The remaining Serb population was expelled from their homes, their movable property looted, and their houses and church burned. In this way, members of Muslim armed units committed multiple war crimes against the Serb civilian population, and the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry states that the case of Bradina and surrounding Serb-populated villages in the Konjic municipality constitutes a joint criminal enterprise. Surviving Serbs from Bradina recall each year that during those horrific days they stumbled over the bodies of their loved ones. The Church of the Ascension of the Lord in Bradina near Konjic was built in 1938 through the efforts and donations of local residents led by the then parish priest Jovan Slomović, originally from Čajniče. The largest benefactor was Vlad or Vladimir Olšanski, a Czech-born engineer working on the construction of a railway tunnel near the church, who provided materials and machinery needed to the builders. Through the efforts of former residents of the village, now living as refugees mostly in Serbia, BiH, and abroad, the church exterior has been restored and a new roof installed, preventing further deterioration. The Divinre Liturgy is celebrated once a year, as no Orthodox residents remain living in Bradina.