FIREARM SHOTS HIT LIGHTING AT SERB GATHERING PLACE

LUKAVAC, JULY 18 /SRNA/ - Unknown individuals fired shots at solar lighting installed at a prayer site in the Serb returnee settlement of Gornja Brijesnica near Lukavac, the Serb Homeland Association of Gornja Brijesnica residents told SRNA.

Association representative Radomir Nedić said that, in addition to the damage to the solar lighting, bullet marks were clearly visible on the metal roof where the lighting had been installed. He said the damage was discovered yesterday and reported to the police in Lukavac. Association member Lazo Tripunović said residents had been forced to install solar lighting because, more than three decades later, the Federation authorities had still not provided electricity to the Serb-inhabited area. Tripunović described the shooting at the prayer site's lighting as one in a series of negative messages directed at Serbs and stressed that, despite obstacles to sustainable return, former residents would not give up restoring their centuries-old properties. He said that before the war, 570 Serbs had lived in Gornja Brijesnica and that the village had water, electricity and even a telephone network. "However, in 1995 the village was completely destroyed by members of the so-called Army of BiH," Tripunović said. The prayer site in the Serb returnee settlement of Gornja Brijesnica is a centuries-old gathering place and a symbol of return and renewal. After years of neglect, local residents restored the site, where a cross has also been erected and consecrated. The location holds significant spiritual importance for the displaced Serb population from the Ozren area. On religious holidays, such as Little Christmas, services are held at the prayer site, which continues to develop as a place for community gatherings and the preservation of local tradition.