NO JUSTICE YET FOR PERPETRATORS WHO KILLED AND BURNED SERBS

SREBRENICA, JUNE 30 /SRNA/ – A memorial service was held today in the Srebrenica village of Brežani for 32 residents, 18 of whom were killed by Muslim forces from Srebrenica and neighboring villages on this day 34 years ago.

The service was also held for 92 Serbs from Brežani killed in the Second World War and for an undetermined number of villagers executed in the First World War, whom the report describes as having been killed by the same enemy, Muslim neighbors and their descendants.

The memorial service was conducted by Srebrenica priest Aleksandar Mlađenović at a monument erected to the victims from Brežani killed during the recent war in BiH. Two wing-shaped plaques placed next to the monument describe what is characterized as genocide against the Serbs of this village in three wars during the 20th century and list the names of those killed in the Second World War.

Candles were lit for the souls of the killed Serb civilians and soldiers, and flowers were laid at the memorial, which was erected after the war in memory of the victims.

Flowers were laid by delegations of the Municipality of Srebrenica, the veterans' organization, the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians of the municipality, and family members of the victims.

Brežani is one of a number of Serb villages in the municipality of Srebrenica that, according to the report, were entered by Muslim forces from neighboring villages and Srebrenica under the command of Naser Orić beginning in April 1992, where mass crimes were committed against the population.

For this crime, as well as for other mass crimes against Serbs in this region, no one has yet been held accountable before the courts, although the report states that the victims were killed in the cruelest ways in their homes and yards, with some burned alive while asleep.

Srebrenica Mayor Miloš Vučić expressed hope that justice would eventually reach the perpetrators and said this was another place of Serb suffering in Podrinje for which no one had been punished.

"It is our duty to remember the victims, to speak the names of the innocent Serb victims, to preserve the culture of remembrance and honor the dead, and to pass the truth on to younger generations so that they know and remember and do not again experience the tragedy that befell this village in three wars during the 20th century. We still hope to see the day when Serb victims will be treated equally with others," Vučić said.

He added that despite the suffering, life in Brežani has not disappeared and continues.

Branimir Kojić, president of the Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica, said Muslim formations from Srebrenica continued what he described as the ongoing killing of the Serb population and destruction of everything Serb in Brežani.

He said the attack was carried out by neighbors from nearby villages who allegedly called Serb householders by name to come out of their homes before killing them.

"For the Hague tribunal and the Court of BiH, Serb victims and Serb tears are not the same as those of others, and that is what hurts the families of Serb victims most," Kojić said, adding that the living have an obligation to speak about these crimes so they are not forgotten and to teach younger generations so that such evil is not repeated.

Kojić said Serbs in this area remain under constant pressure because, according to him, there are efforts to preserve a narrative that Serbs did not suffer and were responsible for everything that happened during the war.

Villager Milorad Marjanović said that, according to information obtained later, about a thousand armed Muslims attacked the village, followed by women who shouted, banged objects, and created panic while looting Serb property.

"There were about 70 of us in the village, about half of them civilians, women, and the elderly. They first fired several shells at Brežani from the direction of Osmače, and then the general attack, gunfire, and shouting began from all sides. We resisted and died. A few of us managed to escape thanks to the terrain, our knowledge of the area, and the dense vegetation," Marjanović said.

He added that the attack reminded villagers of 1942, when Muslims from neighboring villages wearing Ustasha uniforms attacked Brežani and killed many residents.

Marjanović said families of the victims and villagers condemn the work of the judiciary, do not trust the Court of BiH, and have no hope that the Prosecutor's Office and Court of BiH will prosecute the perpetrators.

He added that some perpetrators were identified by survivors, while others, he said, were later reached only by what families consider divine justice.

Mileva Rankić survived the attack but lost her sons, 20-year-old Miroslav and Dragoslav, who was two years older, as well as her husband Milisav.

"My children and husband were killed here. We light candles for their souls. They were killed by Naser Orić's army. They attacked the village from all sides. There was shouting, screaming, banging, and howling. They came from every direction, killed everyone they could, looted, and burned everything, and nobody has answered for it. Where is justice and what are the courts doing? If someone's chickens had been killed, a culprit would have been sought," the old lady stressed.

Mileva said she has lost faith in the judiciary and expects that those who killed her husband and sons on their doorstep will face divine rather than earthly justice.

"Years pass, and nobody reacts or answers for the killing of my children and the innocent children of many Serb mothers," this mother said.

Radinka Milošević said her son Vidoje and father-in-law Stanko were killed that morning, while her husband Milovan was wounded.

"We were asleep when the shooting started and the shouting and howling began. Crowds came from all the surrounding Muslim villages, and the forests were full of them. My son Vidoje was killed, and my father-in-law Stanko, whom we never found. My husband and other son were wounded and managed to escape. Nobody answered for the crimes because the victims were Serbs. We only believe that God will punish them," Radinka said.

No one has been held accountable for the crimes committed in this and other Serb villages in the municipality of Srebrenica, which families say deepens distrust in BiH institutions and hinders reconciliation and confidence-building among the remaining residents.

Survivors recalled that Muslim forces first surrounded the village in the early morning hours and opened fire while shouting and killing everyone they could reach.

Under cover of darkness and morning fog, and thanks to their knowledge of the terrain, some villagers escaped into nearby woods or hid in ferns and thickets around the village. From those hiding places, they said, they watched the killings of civilians. Captured villagers were tortured, mutilated, and burned alive.

The oldest victim was 88-year-old Stanko Milošević, and the youngest was 15-year-old LJubomir Josipović. Five women were among those killed.

Milan Rankić, president of the local community council of Brežani, told SRNA that 30 of the 70 prewar houses had been rebuilt and that only about 30 of the village's former 350 residents had returned permanently.

"The village suffered in both world wars, and most of all in the recent Defense-Homeland War. Everything was destroyed, and nobody has answered for it, nor will they before this kind of judiciary in BiH," Rankić said, noting that while protecting civilians he was one of the few men who escaped the encirclement, while his uncle and two cousins were killed.

He added that there are no children in the village and that only elderly residents remain.

"The infrastructure has been rebuilt, but the people were killed, dispersed, or died. In summer there are a few more people because they come to harvest raspberries and then leave for Srebrenica and mostly Serbia, where most of them moved after the destruction of this village 34 years ago," Rankić said.

Brežani, like other villages in Podrinje entered by Muslim forces, was completely looted and burned, the report said.