MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR MURDERED JEŽESTICA SERBS

BRATUNAC, AUGUST 8 /SRNA/ – A memorial service was held today at the monument in the Bratunac village of Ježestica for the souls of 39 local residents killed during the Defensive–Patriotic War, including eight women, as well as for Serb villagers fell during World War II.

The service was held to mark the anniversary of the August 8, 1992 massacre, when Muslim forces from Srebrenica entered Ježestica, killing nine villagers in their fields and homes, looting and burning the village. Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 162 Serbs were killed, only a few of them were soldiers. The names of all the victims are engraved on the monument alongside those who died in the most recent war, as a sign of remembrance and gratitude. Mayor of Bratunac, Lazar Prodanović, stated that horrific crimes were committed in Ježestica, including a documented beheading. "Unfortunately, and shamefully for the BiH judiciary, no one has been held accountable for this or other crimes against Serbs in Podrinje. We will not give up our demands for justice and prosecution of the perpetrators," Prodanović declared. Local resident Rado Bogićević recalled the Muslim attack on the village in which his father Vojin was killed. "They attacked us in the afternoon. It was a holiday and most people were at home, where most of them were killed," Bogićević said. He added that he lost many extended family members and neighbours during the war. "We didn't attack anyone, but our village was constantly targeted by Muslims from Srebrenica. On August 8, they burned half the village, killed eight people, and looted property. Once military help arrived, we pushed them back to their lines. No one has been held accountable for the brutal murders, which is an injustice and pain the BiH judiciary is causing," Bogićević emphasized. Among the victims killed on August 8, 1992, were brothers Dragan and Anđelko Mlađenović and their mother Savka. The perpetrators killed the sons in front of their mother, then slit her throat. Anđelko was beheaded, and his head was reportedly taken as a “trophy” to Srebrenica, where Muslim soldiers tied it to a car and paraded it through the streets, showing it to a cheering crowd. Video footage of this act reportedly exists. Anđelko's daughter Anka was only five months old when she lost her father. "I don't remember it, but I grew up without a father, and he was missed. On that tragic day, my father, uncle, and grandmother were all killed," she said. Radojka Filipović, the head of the Organisation of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Bratunac, told SRNA that Ježestica was once one of the largest Serb villages in the municipality and was repeatedly attacked, as it stood in the way of taking Kravica, which Muslim forces saw as a key Serb stronghold. "The first victim here was Mile Ostojić, killed on May 22, 1992. Attacks continued, and on August 8, eight villagers were murdered, including two women. The brothers Dragan and Anđelko Mlađenović and their mother Savka were among them," Filipović said. She described how Savka witnessed her son Dragan's head being smashed with an axe, and how Anđelko’s head was chopped off and taken to Srebrenica. After the sons were killed, their mother was also murdered. "It is known that Kemal Mehmedović from the Srebrenica village of Pale beheaded Anđelko. He was reportedly rewarded by Naser Orić with 10 DM and a sack of flour for the act," Filipović claimed. According to her, Mehmedović now lives in Austria, has renounced BiH citizenship, was prosecuted in an Austrian court, but was acquitted due to an alleged lack of evidence, which Filipović claims the BiH Prosecutor's Office is hiding.