NUŽDIĆ: THE FACT THAT NO ONE WAS HELD ACCOUNTABLE DOESN'T MEAN THE CRIME DIDN'T HAPPEN

TUZLA, MAY 15 /SRNA/ - Acting Director of the Republic Research Centre on War, War Crimes and Tracing Persons Viktor Nuždić has stated that the fact of no one being held accountable does not mean the crime did not happen, referring to the killing of JNA /Yugoslav People's Army/ soldiers in the Tuzla Convoy, who only wanted to return to their homes.

"Bistrik, Veliki park, Skenderija, Dobrovoljačka, Tuzla convoy, the pattern is the same in all these sites: JNA soldiers were killed, and no one has been held accountable for any of these crimes," Nuždić told the press in Tuzla, where he attended the commemoration of 33 years since the killing of JNA soldiers at Brčanska Malta. Nuždić emphasized that impunity does not negate the occurrence of the crime, noting that 51 people were killed on the spot, and three more died later from their wounds. According to him, these soldiers only wanted to leave a city once praised for its multiculturalism and liberal spirit, which ultimately turned into a mass grave for them. "That's why it's the duty of Republika Srpska institutions to foster a culture of remembrance, and our personal obligation to remember and never forget what happened on May 15, 1992," Nuždić said. Memorial service was held today at Brčanska Malta in Tuzla, where on May 15, 1992, 54 young men were brutally killed in a Muslim attack on a JNA convoy during an agreed peaceful withdrawal, candles were lit and roses were laid in honour of the victims. On May 15, 1992, Muslim forces attacked a JNA convoy in Tuzla, which based on a previously reached agreement was supposed to peacefully withdraw from the Tuzla barracks. During the attack, 54 JNA soldiers were killed, 78 wounded, and 44 captured, of whom five were later killed, while the others were tortured and mistreated.