REMEMBERING DEPARTURE OF LAST GROUP OF SERBS FROM PRISONS IN TUZLA AND ZENICA

DOBOJ, APRIL 7 /SRNA/ - The Association of Prisoners of War "Vijenac, Vozuća and Others" marked today the Patron Saint’s Day, the Annunciation, as well as the 28th anniversary of the departure of the last group of Serbs from Muslim-run camps in Tuzla and Zenica.

Members of the Association, who endured severe torture in the camps, expressed their dissatisfaction that the perpetrators and those who ordered the crimes remain beyond the reach of justice.

The Association’s Vice President, Ninko Đurić, spent seven months in captivity in seven camps in the areas of Tuzla and Sarajevo, and only saw freedom on March 24, 1996.

He called for Serbian unity in circumstances where, as he said, all wartime and post-war enemies remain united - both in BiH and the wider region. He pointed out that while some new arrest warrants are being issued, convicted war criminal Sakib Mahmuljin is "relaxing and holidaying in Turkey."

He pointed out that not a single mujahideen fighter has been held accountable for the most monstrous crimes committed in the most notorious camp for Serbs in Kamenica near Zavidovići - something every Serb, he said, should be aware of - where "hands, heads, and legs were cut off with chainsaws and sabres."

He described the Kamenica camp as hell on earth, with its gateway in the collection center in Kesteni, where the so-called "death list" was compiled by the commander of the 5th Battalion of the 328th Muslim Brigade, Izet Karahasanović. Instead of being prosecuted, Karahasanović later appeared as a defense witness for the Chief of the General Staff of the so-called Army of the Republic of BiH, Rasim Delić.

During his seven months in captivity, Đurić says he spent 139 days in solitary confinement under special treatment, as part of an effort to force him into becoming a false witness for the Hague Tribunal, which he refused.