SREBRENICA CELEBRATION ON NOVEMBER 25 SEEN AS PROVOCATION INTENDED TO HEIGHTEN TENSIONS

SREBRENICA, NOVEMBER 26 /SRNA/ – Branimir Kojić, president of the Srebrenica Organization of Families of Imprisoned and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, told SRNA that the "revelry in Srebrenica" marking November 25, the so-called Statehood Day of BiH, is yet another provocation intended to raise tensions.

He said that Muslims from Srebrenica, led by the president of the Municipal Assembly Almir Dudić and the deputy mayor Hamdija Fejzić, draped children in various flags that provoke and offend the Serb people, deliberately counting on the fact that no one will react to children. Kojić noted that even a Palestinian flag appeared during the celebration of this so-called holiday, which, in his view, clearly shows that Muslims from Srebrenica and Bratunac are not actually marking anything—not even something that doesn't exist - but are focused solely on provoking and reveling. "If you have former wartime cadres and various `dogs of war` in the front rows - people who publicly admitted they were members of the El Mujaheed unit and said they were ready to slaughter anything bearing a Serbian name, even a two-kilogram child—the message is clear: they remain free despite openly speaking about their wartime path and mindset," Kojić stated. He pointed out that most employees of the Srebrenica municipal administration did not work yesterday, having requested leave for religious holidays in order to celebrate something that is not recognized as a holiday in Republika Srpska. "Imagine the handful of Serbs living in the Federation of BiH marching through the streets of Sarajevo, Tuzla, or Zenica with Serb flags or wartime flags. I say with full responsibility: they would be beaten to death, and only the lucky ones would be merely arrested and prosecuted. Serbs in the Federation are not second-class but fifth-class citizens, while Muslims here enjoy full rights and even cross the boundaries of decency without ever being punished," Kojić stressed. He called on institutions of Republika Srpska to prevent such gatherings in the future, and urged the municipal authorities and the majority caucus in the Municipal Assembly to convene a session and dismiss all those who hold office in the Srebrenica municipality but were absent from work. Today, Bosniak residents of Srebrenica, together with fellow nationals from the municipal authorities and public institutions, marched through the center of Srebrenica carrying BiH flags as well as wartime flags of the so-called Army of BiH. Some young girls were seen provocatively draped in wartime flags of the so-called Army of BiH, under which numerous crimes were committed against Serbs during the last war.