CONSTRUCTION OF ISLAMIC MEMORIAL CENTER IS INSULT TO SERB VICTIMS

BRATUNAC, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ – The revelation that today's session of the Bratunac Municipal Assembly includes a hidden agenda item under the guise of an amendment to the regulatory plan for the construction of a multifunctional facility - which allegedly involves the construction of an Islamic memorial center - has caused outrage and unrest among citizens, especially among the families of fallen and missing Serb soldiers and civilians.

Zoran Gvozdenović, president of the Bratunac Veterans' Organization, stated that the SDA /Party of Democratic Action/ has been attempting to build some form of Islamic memorial center in the center of Bratunac for the past ten years. "Bratunac is in Republika Srpska, and it doesn't need that. They are trying to get ahead of the construction of the Serb memorial center for the Birač region, for which a decision was made at the last session of the Government of Republika Srpska," Gvozdenović told reporters. He expressed hope that the assembly members would be aware and not allow themselves to be deceived into approving the regulatory plan change, stressing that this would cause great dissatisfaction among veterans, the families of the fallen, and the local Serb population. For Branimir Kojić, president of the Municipal Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica - many of whom are buried in the Bratunac cemetery - the idea of granting approval and land for the construction of an Islamic memorial center and monument in Bratunac is unacceptable. He argued that the talk of building a "multifunctional facility" is merely an attempt to deceive Serbs, and that if approval is granted, the intended use of the building would easily be shifted to serve as an Islamic center where they would promote the idea that only Bosniaks suffered, and that genocide occurred in Bratunac. Kojić warned that the Bosniaks are in a hurry because they want to realize their plan before the construction of the Serb memorial center begins, which is planned for 3,267 fallen Serb soldiers and civilians from the Birač region. "That's why they rushed to get approval and, under the pretext of building a library, hall, residential and commercial complex, plan to build an Islamic memorial center in Bratunac - therefore mocking the families of Serb victims, which is offensive and unacceptable," Kojić emphasized. He urged Serb assembly members and the mayor to open their eyes and not approve the construction of this center. "While in the Federation of BiH, Serb cemeteries are being destroyed, monuments vandalized, and even the dead Serbs are not left in peace - with crosses that are over a hundred years old being removed - the Bosniaks want to build Islamic centers in Republika Srpska, to Islamize it and claim it as their own," said Kojić. He condemned the desecration of the Serb cemetery near Zenica and demanded that the perpetrators be found and strictly punished, stating that such incidents must not be covered up as many have been in the past, which only encourages further destruction of Serbian heritage. "Imagine the level of madness, hatred, and wickedness it takes to commit such an act and smash monuments, no matter whose they are," Kojić said. He pointed out that not a single case of desecration of Bosniak monuments has occurred in Republika Srpska, which, according to him, speaks volumes about the awareness and level of civilization of the Serb people compared to the Bosniaks - whom he accused of continuously looting Serb property, desecrating cemeteries, removing Serb symbols, and systematically trying to erase traces of Serbian presence in the territory of today's Federation of BiH, which he claims has been nearly ethnically cleansed - and now, they want to do the same in Republika Srpska. Vladan Radić, secretary of the Bratunac Veterans' Organization, condemned the initiative to change the regulatory plan and called on the assembly members to remember who elected them and not to cause unrest among the population. Vojin Pavlović, president of the Eastern Alternative Association of Republika Srpska, told reporters that members of this organization do not believe the Bosniak explanations and fear that some assembly members will vote in favor of the so-called multifunctional center for personal gain. "They already have a Muslim memorial center just two kilometers from Bratunac, in Potočari, where the names of Bratunac Bosniaks are inscribed, people who died attacking Serb villages, looting, burning, and killing everything they could in the Bratunac and Srebrenica areas," Pavlović said. According to him, Bosniaks want to build an Islamic memorial center in Bratunac from which they will send messages portraying even Serb children as genocidal - which he says is unacceptable. "We expect that responsibility and conscience will prevail among the assembly members, and that they will not vote to approve the construction of this facility for the Islamic Community in Bratunac - regardless of the pressure from Ramiz Salkić and Western ambassadors who are working for the dissolution of Republika Srpska and the removal of President Milorad Dodik," Pavlović concluded.