STEVANDIĆ: SRPSKA GUARANTOR THAT CRIMES AGAINST SERBS WILL NOT BE REPEATED

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 1 /SRNA/ –Republika Srpska National Assembly Speaker Nenad Stevandić has stated today that Republika Srpska is a guarantor that crimes against the Serb people, such as those committed by the Ustasha in Drakulić in 1942, will never be repeated.

"With the creation of Republika Srpska came self-respect, and for the first time we began to openly speak about the truth which we were forced to remain silent about for a long time under the communist dictatorship," Stevandić told the press in Drakulić.

He stated that the largest single-day crime in the Independent State of Croatia began against Serbs in Drakulić and the surrounding villages outside Banja Luka.

He recalled that more than 2,000 Serbs were killed, including 551 children, without a single shot being fired, and that signs stated the children had died, as if it had been some kind of epidemic.

"I am certain that there would have been neither Drakulić nor Jasenovac if Republika Srpska had existed at that time, which is why it must exist - to prevent such crimes from ever happening again, " Stevandić said.

He pointed out that Serbs must turn toward one another and, by nurturing remembrance, protect themselves from the repetition of the darkest chapters of history.

The Banja Luka village of Drakulić is currently commemorating 84th anniversary of the NDH’s crime against Serb civilians in this village, as well as in Šargovac and Motike, and at the Rakovac mine near Banja Luka, committed on February 7, 1942, when 2,315 Serbs were brutally killed in a single day, including 551 children.