MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR BILJANA PLAVŠIĆ IN BELGRADE

BELGRADE, OCTOBER 6 /SRNA/ - A memorial service for former President of Republika Srpska Biljana Plavšić was held today in Belgrade in the presence of her family and friends, after which the coffin containing her remains was transported to Banja Luka, where she will be buried tomorrow.

The memorial service was held by local clergy in the chapel at Belgrade's New Cemetery and was attended by her former associates and admirers.

Belgrade political scientist and former associate of Plavšić, Aleksandar Pavić, also attended the service. He said that Plavšić was one of four people in Republika Srpska who politically shouldered the burden of the war.

"That was the true Serbian leadership - Radovan Karadžić, Momčilo Krajišnik, Nikola Koljević and Biljana Plavšić," Pavić told reporters. From 1996 until July 1997, he served as Plavšić's chief political adviser.

He said that Plavšić was constantly with the fighters and was very popular among the people on both sides of the Drina at the time, which prompted Karadžić to appoint her as his successor when he was unjustly forced out of political life.

Pavić noted that Plavšić assumed the office of President of Republika Srpska at an extremely challenging time, when pressure began to revise the Dayton Agreement and outside forces became involved.

"Republika Srpska was always Plavšić’s top priority," Pavić said.

He said that Plavšić preserved her dignity to the end and, after returning to Belgrade from prison, to which she had been sentenced by the Hague Tribunal, she did not impose herself on the public.

Pavić said that Plavšić spoke her mind and did not flee the war to Serbia, but took risks like all those who assumed political responsibility at the time.

"She stood at the head of the Serb people by name and surname, together with others who carried that struggle, and that should be respected. Recognition should be given to everyone who dared to enter that struggle at the time, because many who were professors and intellectuals did not want to do so - they fled, they were afraid. But those who were there, as Biljana was, deserve our respect and remembrance," Pavić said.

Pavić said that Plavšić did nothing for herself and that even when she made mistakes, she did so believing that she was doing what was best for the Serb people.

"She always said that she would not allow the people to suffer because of her. That was one of the reasons why she voluntarily went to The Hague. I did not agree with that, but it was a very brave decision on her part," Pavić said.

Following the change of government in Serbia on October 5, 2000, Pavić said, she was left to fend for herself, and this showed how much a genuine Serbian state capable of caring for everyone in the highest national interest was lacking.

A memorial ceremony for the former President of Republika Srpska will be held tomorrow at Banski Dvor in Banja Luka at 10:00.

Plavšić will be buried at 13:00 at the Sveti Pantelija Cemetery in Banja Luka, where a funeral service will be held at 12:00.

Biljana Plavšić died in Belgrade on October 1 at the age of 96.