LINTA: GRAVE INSULT AND HUMILIATION OF THE VICTIMS OF USTASHA GENOCIDE AND THEIR DESCENDANTS

BELGRADE, OCTOBER 29 /SRNA/ - Miodrag Linta, president of the Alliance of Serbs from the Region, said that the desecration of the Orthodox cross at the site of the former Ustasha camp at Slana on the island of Pag was an act contrary to civilization and a grave insult to and humiliation of the Serb victims of the Ustasha genocide, their descendants and the entire Serb people.

He pointed out that a group of Croatian chauvinists from the village of Metajna had painted over the recently restored Orthodox cross in the colors of the Croatian coat of arms, which begins with a white square. The coat of arms in this form is a symbol of the Independent State of Croatia /NDH/ and the Ustasha regime.

"They also drew the Ustasha coat of arms on the nearby rocky ground and wrote the abbreviation BDM, which stands for the Blessed Virgin Mary," Linta said.

He stressed that this anti-Serb act of hatred could not be viewed in isolation from other events that had taken place at this site of mass killings and in Metajna over the past months and years.

"A new memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of the Ustasha camp in Slana Cove was installed on June 24 this year for the fourth time, but was smashed as early as the beginning of August. Also, in early August, during commemorations of the criminal Operation Storm, a group of young Croatian fascists shouted the Ustasha salute ‘Za dom spremni’ /‘For the Homeland — Ready’/," he said.

Linta called on the EU to urge the relevant Croatian authorities to urgently identify those responsible for desecrating the Orthodox cross and smashing the memorial plaque, conduct an effective investigation into all attacks on memorials to the victims of the Slana and Metajna camps, and prosecute those responsible for these criminal acts in accordance with the law.

He stressed that the cross and memorial plaque must be restored and adequately protected to prevent similar pro-fascist acts from happening again, the Alliance of Serbs from the Region said in a statement.