MEMORIAL COMPLEX FOR KILLED SERBS SHOULD BE BUILT IN BRATUNAC TO DISPEL FALSE MYTHS

SREBRENICA, MAY 20 /SRNA/ – A memorial complex for 3,267 Serbs from the central Podrinje region would deal a "final blow" to the false myth of a fabricated genocide, Branimir Kojić, president of the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians from Srebrenica, told SRNA.

Kojić said that what the federal media are trying to portray as some kind of deception by Republika Srpska, by planning to build a memorial complex in Bratunac, is the best proof of the arrogance coming from the Federation of BiH. He believes that they do not want any discussion of the victims from other nations, only and exclusively of Bosniak victims, and only in the context of alleged genocide. He stated that the complex would deliver a "final blow" to this false myth. Kojić noted that, for the federal media, the father of Emir Suljagić is a victim of "genocide," but not the Dimitrijević brothers, the Marinković, Rankić, Vučetić, Matić, Ristić families, and many others who disappeared in a single day. He asked why is Suljo Suljagić considered a victim, and allowed to be spoken of, but not Petar Kojić, who died in his village, on his ancestral land in an ethnically Serb village? "He did not die as an attacker, but as a defender of his village and ancestral home. Why shouldn't my father have a cross that testifies to his sacrifice, while Suljo, though an attacker, has a headstone and is presented as a victim of the `genocide` of 1995, even though he died much earlier?" Kojić asked. He also questioned why only Munira /Subašić/ and other members of Muslim associations receive condolences from Western embassies and world officials in the Bosniak victims' complex, while Serbs are denied the right to have a memorial complex for their murdered. "Genocide was committed against the Serbs in this region. In addition to the 3,267 victims, the destroyed Serb villages stand as evidence. They were completely wiped out, no life remains there, everything was razed to the ground, and that land was soaked in Serb blood," Kojić emphasized. Kojić declared that this is a continuation of pressure on Republika Srpska and its institutions, which must react urgently and build the memorial complex in the "valley of black scarves," so the whole world can see the scale of Serb suffering. The Government of Republika Srpska instructed the Ministry of Finance on May 16 to secure nearly BAM 583,000 for land expropriation for the construction of the memorial complex in Bratunac, in memory of Serb victims of Muslim crimes in Podrinje from 1992 to 1995. This marks the beginning of the implementation of a Government decision adopted on July 11, 2024, for the construction of a memorial complex in remembrance of the 3,267 killed and fallen Serbs from central Podrinje and Birač in the Defensive-Patriotic War. The decision by the Government of Republika Srpska to allocate funds for the construction of a memorial site in Bratunac, intended to show the scale of Serb suffering in Central Podrinje, has met with disapproval in the Federation of BiH, where it has been labeled a "devious plan" and claims have been made that its construction must not be allowed.