22 YEARS SINCE ATTACK ON STAROVLAH FAMILY

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, MARCH 31 /SRNA/ – Twenty-two years have passed since the barbaric crime committed by members of the then SFOR who, in Pale, nearly beat to death the Orthodox priest Father Jeremija Starovlah and his son Aleksandar, a religious education teacher, who became 100-percent disabled as a result of the injuries he sustained.

The perpetrators, members of the then SFOR, have never faced the deserved punishment for this crime against innocent Serb civilians.

During the night between March 31 and April 1, 2004, SFOR members blew open the entrance door of the parish house in Pale with explosives. In the building, the priest families Zekić and Starovlah lived in two apartments.

They then entered the Starovlah family's apartment and inflicted severe, life-threatening physical injuries on priest Jeremija and his son Aleksandar using hard objects and mechanical tools, leaving permanent consequences for their health.

Vitorka Starovlah, the wife of Father Jeremija, endured severe psychological distress and great emotional pain as she was not allowed to help her husband and son. Later, she feared for their lives and recovery and worried about how her son Aleksandar would continue his life with the consequences of the injuries.

SFOR members transported Aleksandar and Jeremija, who were severely injured and unconscious, by helicopter to the Clinical Centre in Tuzla, where they received urgent medical assistance. They later continued treatment at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade and underwent recovery in rehabilitation centres.

ATTACKS ON SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND SERBS HAVE LASTED 922 YEARS

Istočno Sarajevo-based historian Delibor Kajević told SRNA that although 22 years have passed since the suffering of the Starovlah family, from a historical perspective attacks on the Orthodox people and the Serbian Church have lasted much longer.

"Twenty-two years have passed since those unfortunate events in Pale, but if I look at history, I would say this has been going on for 922 years, because from a historical standpoint all enemies of the Serb people have attacked the Serbian Orthodox Church, that bastion of the Serb people," Kajević emphasized.

The Starovlah priestly family, Kajević emphasizes, is one of suffering and martyrdom because they endured blows from enemies of the Serb people for the sake of truth, while the Serbian Orthodox Church preserves that truth.

"I do not wish to be a spokesperson for the Serbian Orthodox Church, but that is simply how it is. Few nations in history and in recent civilizations have been so strongly connected to their church as the Serbian people are to theirs, to Saint Sava's tradition. Perhaps it could be compared to the connection Italians or the Irish have with the Catholic Church. The third would certainly be the Serbs, who are inseparably connected to their Serbian Orthodox Church," Kajević stated.

ORTHODOX BELIEVERS MUST RESIST POLITICAL PRESSURES FROM THE WEST

Kajević expressed outrage that even today almost daily attacks are recorded not only against clergy, but also against Serb cemeteries, churches and Orthodox shrines, both in the Federation of BiH and Croatia, as well as in temporarily seized Serbian territory, the self-declared Kosovo, a false state whose only goal is the extermination of the Serb people from their centuries-old homes and the unscrupulous usurpation and seizure of Orthodox holy sites.

In his opinion, these represent political attacks against the Serbian Orthodox Church and the unity of Serbs.

"But this is not happening only here. Let us look at Ukraine. What is happening in Ukraine? What if someone takes the Pechersk Lavra? They will take it. They will take all those powerful relics from the Pechersk Lavra because they are Orthodox, because there is power in them. Whether this is a game of Protestantism or the Vatican is historically irrelevant, but it is happening in this region," Kajević warned.

KOSTOVIĆ: THE STAROVLAHS, THE ABAZOVIĆ FAMILY YESTERDAY – WHO WILL BE THE NEXT VICTIMS?

Historian from Istočno Sarajevo Aleksandar Kostović recalled with sadness not only the suffering of the Starovlah family but also that of the innocent Serb Abazović family near Rogatica. For these and many other disgraceful crimes against Serbs, no member of the so-called multinational forces has been adequately punished.

"The question arises – what message does that send? Does it mean that if someone goes unpunished, such things are allowed or even desirable? What exactly does it mean to break into someone's home, beat innocent and blameless family members without any evidence, and cause unimaginable harm? Our people became permanently disabled, no one has taken responsibility for it. What kind of message is that for us, for the Serb people?" Kostović asked.

To this day, many Serbs view the attack by SFOR members on the Starovlah priestly family as a brutal and ruthless attack on both the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serb people.

For that reason, it should not be surprising, that Serbs in Republika Srpska will not allow official Sarajevo to determine their fate, based on insane postulates of the Islamic Declaration, authored by former Muslim leader Alija Izetbegović, an advocate of a so-called unitary BiH.

SFOR CRIME WENT UNPUNISHED

For the Starovlah family members who were brutally beaten in the middle of the night by SFOR members, Scots and Slovenians, there has unfortunately been no real satisfaction except for a certain financial compensation for non-material damages, which was paid by BiH, not SFOR.

On October 1, 2010, the Court of BiH partially upheld the lawsuit filed by Jeremija, Aleksandar and Vitorka Starovlah and decided that BiH should pay the family slightly more than BAM 300,000 in compensation.

The court rejected the family's requests for compensation for emotional suffering caused by the violation of their private property and home, for the failure to punish the perpetrators, for destroyed belongings, and for assistance and care for Jeremija.