DODIK: BRADINA BURNED DOWN, DEVASTATED, SOAKED IN SERB BLOOD - COMPLETE EXTERMINATION OF SERBS IS EXECUTIONERS' GOAL

BANJA LUKA, MAY 24 /SRNA/ - President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik states that the brutal crime against Serb population in Bradina near Konjic was a classic example of premeditated and planned Muslim aggression against the local population with only one goal - extermination of Serbs from these areas for all times.

On the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the suffering of the Serb population in the village of Bradina near Konjic, Dodik told SRNA that the suffering in Bradina is not the only example that confirms the character of the civil war in BiH, who wanted it, who started it by sacrificing peace for the sake of creating a unitary, Muslim BiH. "Criminals gathered around the then Muslim leaders, the creators and initiators of the war in BiH, carried out aggression against centuries-old Serb homes and estates in Bradina, killed and arrested everything that was not Muslims’. Their 3,000 armed members of paramilitary Muslim and Croat formations, yesterday's neighbours, rushed to attack innocent locals in Bradina and in just two days killed dozens of Serbs, while several hundred of them were taken to Musala and Čelebići prison camps," Dodik pointed out. He said that only a few dozen poorly armed men could not resist and defend Bradina from this brutal attack, so the village was completely burned down and destroyed, while the Church of the Ascension, built in 1938, was set on fire and demolished. "The population was killed in the most brutal ways, on their doorstep, both the young and the elderly. In just two days, between May 25 and 27, 1992, 48 civilians were killed, while 330 civilians were imprisoned in the Čelebići and Musala prison camps, where they were tortured in the most brutal way, 22 of prison camp detainees died in the most horrible ways," Dodik pointed out. He emphasized that Serbs during communism naively thought that the evil of World War II could not be repeated, but unfortunately the descendants of those who filled the Herzegovinian pits with Serbs, in the past civil war only continued what their ancestors had started. "The brutality of Bradina crime and the ferocity of its perpetrators is seen in the fact that they paid the Roma who tied the legs of the murdered Serbs with ropes, and then dragged their bodies by horses to a pit dug in the yard of the demolished church and threw them in there. In three days, 26 bodies of innocent Serbs were thrown into that pit. There are testimonies about cruel and inhumane behavior of the villains towards Serb wives, daughters, sisters and mothers who were subjected to multiple rapes and brutal experiences," emphasized Dodik. He stated that Bradina today is soaked in the blood of members of the Gligorević, Žuža, Živak, Kuljanin, Vujičić families... and numerous others. "By remembering their sacrifice and paying tribute to those suffering souls, we show that we will not forget them, but we will also teach the generations to come how to treat their fallen compatriots," said the president of Srpska. Dodik emphasized that no Serb victim should ever be forgotten, nor should the executioners who made Bradina, like many Serb-populated villages, desolate places overgrown with weeds. "That truth should and must be passed on to future generations in order to prevent the evil from repeating. Not only to prevent it from repeating, but to have someone to testify about the crimes against our people, namely against those who label us today as `genocidal,` whose ancestors were descendants of members of the Handschar divisions and the fascist movement, as well as advocates of rehabilitating the Nazis," Dodik pointed out. Today, emphasized Dodik, the same one are killing our ancestors again who gave their lives for freedom, defended their homes and their people in both World Wars, who were the victims of genocide. "They call not only us, but also our victims of genocide genocidal!? Precisely those whose grandfathers were part of the killing spree on Kozara, Lijevče, Romania, Stari Brod, Prebilovci, Garavice, Jasenovac... We are witnessing this today, while tomorrow our generations will testify about Bradina, Kazan, Sarajevo, Tuzla Convoy, Dobrovoljačka Street, the breakthrough of the corridor, the crime against 12 Banja Luka babies... As a nation, we suffered for freedom, most often by yesterday's neighbours whom we blindly trusted, we were always on the side of justice and truth, but we survived and we will survive despite all the pressure and blackmail of the world powers that once again attacked the Serb people both in Srpska and in Serbia," says Dodik. He emphasized that Serbs know the price of freedom best, because they paid the most for it and experienced numerous terrors and abuses, which is why they value it the most. "We have never been anyone's servants, so we won't be nowadays as we can proudly tell them - the more you attack us, the stronger we are," said Dodik.