MASSACRE OF SERB CIVILIANS WAS COMMITTED BY MUSLIM NEIGHBORS ON ST. NICHOLAS' DAY IN 1992

Most of the locals were celebrating the patron saint that day. Considering that some of the neighbors from the previous day, residents of Jošanica, also carried out the attack, it is evident that this very date was deliberately chosen for the attack - December 19...

By: Tatjana Parađina

FOČA, JULY 30 /SRNA/ - The attack on Jošanica was carried out on the great Christian holiday of St. Nicholas, December 19, 1992.

Most of the locals were celebrating the patron saint that day. Considering that the attack was also carried out by some of the neighbors of the residents of Jošanica the day before yesterday, it is evident that this date was specifically chosen for the attack.

In this way, the previously established practice of attacking Serb villages in the wider Podrinje region on the days of major Christian holidays was unfortunately continued.

Borivoje Kulić, who recognized several attackers, also claims that the attack on Jošanica was carried out by former neighbors: "... They were all from the village of Huseinovići, which was near my village, so I knew them from before. We used to take care of the cattle together, and our properties border each other."

This is also testified by Radomir Pljevaljčić, who confirmed that the attack was carried out by the neighbors. He said that Milica Blagojević, who remained alive, escaped and returned to the forest across the stream from where she watched what was happening in the village.

"A Muslim soldier is calling from below my house: `Oh Pero, oh Vukosava, put on the kettle, we're here for coffee,`" Pljevaljčić testified.

ATTACK OF SAVAGE MUSLIM HORDES AGAINST UNARMED SERB PEOPLE

According to the allegations in the Criminal Report of the Foča Public Security Station, all the hamlets of Jošanica /Gapići, Ho̷džići, Brajkovići, Medanovići, Bogovići, Kobalji, Vašadići, Ostrmci, Baždari and Bjelice/ were subjected to a strong and well-prepared attack in the morning hours of December 19, 1992.

Preparations for the attack began on December 18, 1992, when a large number of members of the so-called Army of BiH, about 600 of them, gathered in the village of Sadba, near Goražde, and there they received instructions for the upcoming attack in the wider Jošanica region. In the morning, before the attack itself, the Muslims organized themselves into ten groups of 60 people, and each group was given the task of attacking one of the hamlets of Jošanica and thus leaving no possibility for any evacuation of the population of Jošanica.

That the attack on Jošanica was carried out in the early morning hours of December 19, 1992 is also evident from the Special Report supplementing the criminal complaint of the Foča Public Security Bureau, as well as in the request for the initiation of an investigation by the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office of Srbinje.

These documents also state that it was an organized and pre-planned attack, with the aim of destroying the entire civilian population, and looting and burning all property.

At the time of the attack on Jošanica, there were no formations of the Army of the Republika Srpska in the village, more precisely, there were only village guards organized by the local population. Weakly armed and numerically inferior, they had no greater opportunity to defend the village. Also, a large number of locals were celebrating the patron saint or had come from some other place to visit the celebrants.

SERBS ARE PREPARING FEAST AND ARMED MUSLIMS ARE PREPARING MASSACRE

Survivor Borivoje Kulić also testifies that there was no organized defense in the village:

"On December 18, 1992, I went to the village of Medanovići to visit my sister Ljuba Višnjić for the feast of Saint Nicholas. I spent the night there and at 5:30 a.m. I went to my village of Brajkovići to tend to the cattle. By the time I got ready and left my sister's house, it was around 6:15 a.m. and as soon as I left the house, shooting began from all sides of the village of Medanovići, and at the same time, gunfire could be heard around all the villages.

I returned to the house and woke up my sister and everyone in the house. We went outside. We, the men, who had weapons, hid around the houses and started shooting. In that shooting I saw that Milosav Davidović, Rade Višnjić, Tomo Višnjić and Novak Mićević were killed."

Trivko Višnjić from the hamlet of Medanovići describes the attempt to defend the village:

"We saw that other villages had also been attacked and burned, and the attack on our village began soon after. They were shooting at us from all sides. The six of us men, from both houses, tried to defend ourselves with the few weapons we had, but there were so many of them that we didn't stand a chance and we didn't have enough ammunition. Immediately before the attack on our village, Rada Blagojević from Konjevići, who was wounded, came to our house. She was soon followed by two wounded men, Rade Blagojević and a man whose last name was Crnogorac, and whose name I have forgotten.

...Fifteen minutes after their arrival we used up all our ammunition and retreated to the nearby forest, because we knew that they would kill us if they found us in the house, and some of the houses in the village were already on fire."

He further emphasized that in that village, as well as in the surrounding ones, there were no large units of the Army of Republika Srpska. There were only a few soldiers for the purpose of village patrols and they were mostly locals, older people. Together with the others, just like me, they tried to defend themselves when they were attacked."

Ratko Blagojević from Konjevići stated that his village was attacked twice by Muslims, between September 14 and 16, 1992:

"After those two fierce attacks by Muslim forces, several of us Serbs from the surrounding villages decided to keep village guards, and take the children and the elderly to safety. We had poor weapons, because we did not participate in the fighting on the front. In any case, our goal was to defend our homes, land and families even with the few weapons we had.

"In the early morning of December 19, 1992, at 6:20 a.m., Muslim forces surrounded the village of Gapići from all sides. That morning, I was standing guard in the village to protect the civilians and prevent their soldiers in their intention to enter the village and kill and slaughter us all."

That there were no members of the Army of Republika Srpska in the village is also confirmed by Ibro Mehović, who says:

"There was no one in the village who could offer resistance, because the Serb defense lines were too far away. It was inside the territory controlled by Serb forces." /to be continued/