LAZIĆ: SEIZURE OF PROPERTY - ATTEMPT TO REWRITE HISTORY AND ERASE SERB IDENTITY

BELGRADE, JANUARY 22 /SRNA/ –Nebojša Lazić, a theologian, told SRNA that seizing property from Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ in the Federation of BiH, including the latest cases in Mostar, Čelebići and Konjic, represents an attempt to rewrite history and erase the identity of the Serb people.

Commenting on the registration of Serbian Orthodox cemeteries, chapels and churches in Mostar and the surrounding area as state property, Lazić said that cemeteries are targeted for being important evidence of a people’s historical presence, while the attempts to confiscate this property proves that Serbs are under threat. He added that Serb cemeteries in Kosovo and Metohija and in Croatia are also under attack, as they testify to the historical presence of one people. "Unfortunately, Serbs are a statistical error in the FBiH, but as long as graves exist, they testify that this land belonged to certain householders, certain faithful Serbs, therefore those graves become an obstacle," Lazić emphasized. He recalled that this is not the first attempt to seize Serb-owned and church property in the FBiH, noting that in just the past year numerous Serb cemeteries have been destroyed. According to him, attempts to seize property indicate that Serbs are endangered when they are not on their own territory, that the same rights do not apply to them, and that rights, equality, and a multiethnic and multifunctional state are spoken of only declaratively. "There is an attempt to create another `acceptable` people, history and culture, which all begins with the seizure of material and immaterial cultural heritage," Lazić stressed. The Mostar Municipal Court has entered into the land registry that the "state" is the owner of two cemeteries - one in Vrapčići with a chapel and one in Gornji Vrapčići with a church, as well as a church in the Čelebići settlement in Konjic.