EGIĆ: PERPETRATORS MUST BE FOUND URGENTLY, SRPSKA GOVERNMENT TO HELP RESTORE CEMETERY

ZENICA, September 16 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Minister of Labor and Veterans' Affairs Danijel Egić stated that he expects competent institutions to urgently identify the vandals who desecrated the Orthodox cemetery in the village of Pečuj near Zenica, and announced that the Government of Srpska will provide financial assistance to help restore more than 60 destroyed and damaged crosses and tombstones.

Egić emphasized that such vandalism has occurred in Zenica before, although this is the first incident at this particular cemetery. "I came on behalf of the Government of Republika Srpska to assess the damage, to send a moral message to the Serbs living here that the institutions of Srpska will do everything in their power to protect them and to ensure they can live a life worthy of human dignity," Egić told reporters. He stressed that authorities in FBiH are expected to urgently find the perpetrators, since those responsible must be held accountable. "We will persist to the extent of our ability. The Government of Republika Srpska will secure certain financial resources to help the people restore this cemetery, and will always stand by them," Egić underlined. He noted that Serbs in the Zenica area are living in fear and are left wondering what they might expect after this incident. At the Orthodox cemetery in Pečuj, located two kilometers from Zenica's center, 60 tombstones were destroyed. The perpetrators who smashed the crosses—some of which are more than 150 years old, testifying to the centuries-long presence of Serbs in the area—have not yet been identified. This act of vandalism against Serbian graves in Pečuj is the latest in a series of attacks on Serbs and their property in the Federation of BiH.