33 YEARS SINCE BRUTAL MURDER OF 24 SERB CIVILIANS COMMEMORATED

TRNOVO, JUNE 3 /SRNA/ - The village of Ledići, located in the Trnovo municipality in the Federation of BiH, held today a commemoration marking 33 years since the brutal crime committed by members of the so-called Army of BiH against 24 Serb civilians, among whom was an 18-month-old child, Milun Tešanović. No one has been held accountable for this crime.

A memorial service was held at the monument to the Serb victims in Ledići followed by wreath-laying by the victims’ families, the Trnovo municipal delegation and organisations stemming from the Defensive - Patriotic War. In June 1992, members of Muslim forces killed Serb civilians in a brutal attack. The oldest victim, Ikonija Vasić, was 92 years old, and the youngest, Milun Tešanović, was just 18 months old, whose arms and legs were broken before being killed. During this rampage done by neighbours, ten members of the Vasić family were killed, the entire Tešanović family of nine members, three members of the Miovčić family, as well as Savo Kenjić and Slađana Sekulić. Before the war, Ledići had approximately 70 residents. The victims were primarily elderly, women, and children. Most villagers were killed on their doorsteps. The few who tried to flee into the surrounding forests were hunted down and killed. The village was looted, burned, and destroyed to such an extent that almost all traces of Serbs’ presence were erased. The crime began in the evening hours of June 3 and was carried out by members of the so-called Army of BiH recruited from the Sarajevo area, along with Muslim neighbours from the nearby village of Dejčići. The occupation of the village, which was later turned into a kind of Muslim camp for Serbs, lasted until June 10. An investigation conducted in 1994 by the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior revealed that the villagers fled in two groups; one headed over Treskavica toward Vojkovići /a settlement near Sarajevo/, the other toward Kalinovik. According to the investigation, the second group heading toward Kalinovik was intercepted by Muslim forces at the Poljice area and all were killed, except for an 11-year-old boy who survived by lying wounded among the dead. By 2001, the remains of 24 victims were exhumed. Most of the skeletons were incomplete, and some skulls were found separated from the bodies. According to the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior’s report, the victims were killed in brutal manners - slitting throats, hanging, or suffocation. In 2021, the Court of BiH acquitted Edhem Godinjak, Medaris Šarić, and Mirko Bunoza on all counts in a first-instance verdict for crimes committed against Serb civilians in the Trnovo area. Also in 2021, a documentary titled "Uncle, I’m Alive, Please Don’t Kill Me…", directed by Gvozden Šarac and produced by RTRS /Radio Television of Republika Srpska/, premiered in Trnovo. It is based on testimonies about the horrific suffering of Serb civilians in the village of Ledići. The film was named after the emotional testimony of Dragan Vasić, the only surviving witness of the Ledići massacre.