DODIK: NAME OF SLOBODAN STOJANOVIĆ - SYMBOL OF INNOCENT SUFFERING

BANJA LUKA, JULY 27 /SRNA/ - President Milorad Dodik stated to SRNA that the greatest defeat of humanity is the torture and murder of children, and one such defeat is the brutal murder of 12-year-old Slobodan Stojanović, a boy who knew nothing of war and hate, but lost his life to the worst of executioners.

"Slobodan was a boy whose childhood was interrupted at the beginning of the civil war in BiH, in the summer of 1992, by a completely ordinary, but fatal return home from displacement to fetch his dog. He was a child like any other child who loved animals and had absolutely nothing to do with armed conflicts, a child who looked at life through different eyes, full of love, hope, and faith. But monsters extinguished all of that and wrote the heaviest pages of his short biography in blood," Dodik pointed out. Every child has the right to peace, a smile, play, and a future, Dodik said, but Slobodan, evidently by the will of inhumans and executioners, did not have that right. His hitherto carefree childhood was violently interrupted by the hand of a monster, and what is even more devastating, by the hand of a female monster, Elfeta Veseli. Instead of the embrace of his dog, says Dodik, Slobodan was met with brutal torture, a knife, pain, and a cruel death. "Slobodan was not a soldier, he did not carry a weapon, and he did not pose a threat to anyone. He was a child, a symbol of innocence, hope, and the future. That is exactly why his suffering represents one of the most horrific crimes committed against Serbian children during the past war," Dodik emphasized for SRNA on the occasion of marking 34 years since the brutal murder of the boy Slobodan Stojanović. He pointed out that today Slobodan would have been a mature man, had a family, and lived and worked freely in his Republika Srpska, but monsters determined a different fate for him. "Slobodan's fate remains one of the most heartbreaking testimonies to the suffering of innocent children and a permanent reminder that executioners do not choose their victims. Only one thing was important to them - one Serb less," Dodik pointed out. He added that the boy's innocent soul was extinguished in the most brutal way, leaving behind pain and sorrow that last and will last forever. Dodik said that it is the obligation of all of us to pronounce his name with special reverence and to protect the truth from oblivion, and may his torturers and killer be forever haunted by the innocent child's gaze, full of love not only for people but also for animals. "The name of Slobodan Stojanović is a symbol of suffering and innocence. Today, the messages on the occasion of this brutal crime carry within them sorrow for a life barely begun, an interrupted childhood, and an extinguished innocent and pure smile. However, they also carry a message about the importance of preserving the memory of every one of our innocent victims, especially children, for the sake of our future and the future of all other children in our Republika Srpska," Dodik concluded.