IT'S DISGRACE TO COURT OF BiH THAT NO ONE WAS PUNISHED FOR THE KILLING OF 600 SERBS IN SREBRENICA AREA

SKELANI, JANUARY 16 /SRNA/ - Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Petko Rankić stated that during the past war, Muslims killed 600 Serb civilians in three villages in the area around Srebrenica, emphasizing that it is a

disgrace to the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH that no one has been held accountable for such a crime to this day.

Rankić noted that for 33 years, Serbs have been coming to Skelani, lighting candles, laying flowers, and waiting for justice that has yet to arrive.

"We know that Muslim criminals committed genocide. Genocide is when you kill children aged five and eleven, when you impale Rankić on a spit and burn him with a blowtorch, when you gouge out the eyes of Judge Slobodan Ilić; that is genocide," Rankić emphasized.

He also asked how, after all of this, anyone can expect a shared life in BiH.

Rankić emphasized that Serbs have been sentenced to a total of 1,400 years in prison, while Muslims have received only 60.

"Let everyone be held accountable for war crimes, but let them be held accountable as well. We know that 49 people were killed in Kravica in a single day; here, on this very day, 69 were killed, and more than 365 were wounded," said Rankić, who attended a memorial service for the murdered Serbs in Skelani today.

A memorial service was held today in Skelani for Serb civilians and soldiers from this and neighboring villages, 69 of whom were killed on this day 33 years ago by Muslim fighters.

In the early hours of January 16, 1993, strong Muslim forces numbering several thousand troops from Srebrenica, under the command of Naser Orić, attacked Serb villages around Skelani. On that day, as many as 69 residents of the area were killed, two-thirds of them civilians, including several children.

A total of 165 residents were wounded. Of the 30 people taken prisoner, half did not survive torture in detention facilities in Srebrenica, while four are still listed as missing.