NUŽDIĆ: CONSEQUENCE OF INACTION BY BiH JUDICIARY

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ - Provocations by Bosniaks in Serbian villages in Bosanski Petrovac are the result of inaction by judicial institutions at the BiH level, which in 30 years since the war have failed to prosecute crimes committed against Serbs in western Krajina municipalities, said Viktor Nuždić, acting director of the Republika Srpska Center for Research of War, War Crimes, and Tracing Missing Persons.

Nuždić told SRNA that the ongoing trial against commander of the 5th Corps of the so-called Army of BiH Atif Dudaković and the controversies surrounding it demonstrate to Serbs that justice remains "out of reach". He recalled that three decades have passed since 120,000 Serbs were expelled from their centuries-old homesteads, pointing out that the same policy continues with the goal of erasing even the traces of Serbs in this part of FBiH. He reminded that in the summer and autumn of 1995 Serbs from western Krajina municipalities suffered the largest pogrom in modern history. "What was done then had not even been achieved by the Ustasha and the genocidal policy of the NDH – the complete eradication of Serbian existence in these areas," Nuždić stressed. He announced that the Center will soon publish the fourth volume of its Atlas, dedicated to 1995, with the aim of ensuring that the suffering of Serbs in western Krajina municipalities is never forgotten. Nuždić emphasized that wartime flags of the so-called Army of BiH and cries of "Allahu Akbar" are once again being used in FBiH to intimidate the small number of returning Serbs. On September 14, a column with wartime insignia and chants once used during ritual killings of Serbs by beheading, passed through Serb returnee villages in Bosanski Petrovac, under the claim that they were marking 30 years since the "liberation" of the municipality. The column was comprised mostly of young people who deliberately marched through Serbian villages, preceded by a police patrol. Bosanski Petrovac is one of 13 western Krajina municipalities attacked by HVO and the 5th Corps of the so-called Army of BiH. For crimes committed in this area against Serbian civilians and soldiers, the Court of BiH is conducting proceedings against Dudaković and 15 other commanders. The indictment charges them with the killing of more than 300 Serbs - mostly civilians - as well as with the destruction of numerous Serb villages.