MATERIĆ: DESECRATION OF A CEMETERY AND CROSS IS A MESSAGE THAT SERBS ARE NOT WELCOME

SARAJEVO, JUNE 24 /SRNA/ - The desecration of an Orthodox cemetery and damage to a cross in the Travnik area is a disturbing act that shows that, even 30 years after the war, hostility toward Serbs has not been eradicated, Nikola Materić, a member of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the FBiH, told SRNA.

He emphasized that it is unacceptable and disheartening that, three decades after the war, attacks on religious and sacred sites are still occurring. Materić stressed that all victims and burial sites must be respected, regardless of national or religious affiliation. "The dead cannot be guilty of anything. We all have our own victims and we should respect them mutually, but unfortunately, there are always those who will desecrate them," Materić said. According to him, the manner in which the cross was damaged is particularly disturbing. "From what I have seen, the cross was used as a target, and shots were fired at it. This cannot be justified in any way," Materić said. He believes that such incidents send an unambiguous message to Serbs living as a minority in certain parts of the FBiH that they are not welcome. "People living in those areas do not have it easy. The message is unambiguous - you are not needed here. When things like this happen, it is not a good sign," Materić said. He expressed the expectation that the police and the prosecutor’s office in the FBiH will conduct a serious investigation and establish responsibility for this case. According to data from the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of the Serbs in the FBiH, dozens of shots were fired at an Orthodox cross in the village of Zaselje near Travnik, as well as in the direction of a former Orthodox cemetery. The cross was erected by a Serb who was expelled from Travnik and now lives in Australia.