THE SUFFERING OF KOVILJKA PAŠALIĆ REMAINS A CRIME WITHOUT PUNISHMENT FOR 33 YEARS

DOBOJ, MAY 30 /SRNA/ – The tragic death of Koviljka Pašalić /57/, who was slaughtered in late May 1993 by a sabotage unit of the so-called Army of BiH in her home near the Holy Trinity Monastery in Vozuća, will not be allowed to fall into oblivion. This is despite the fact that even after 33 years, no one has been held accountable for this crime, even though the identity of the perpetrator is known.

The President of the Native Association "Zavidovićani" from Doboj, Zoran Blagojević, announced that a monument will be built for Pašalić to serve as a reminder of yet another unpunished crime against Serb civilians.

Blagojević, who is also the former Chief of Staff of the Fourth Ozren Light Infantry Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska, told SRNA that Koviljka was slaughtered during the night between May 28 and 29, 1993. He stated that the beasts of the so-called Army of BiH tore out the unfortunate woman's larynx and took it as a trophy.

"She was slaughtered on a couch, and the fact that they tortured her was evident from the window curtain, which was completely splattered with blood. This was all documented during the investigation, thanks to which we still have photographs of that crime today," Blagojević says.

He emphasized that this case was forwarded for processing to the former Public Security Center in Doboj.

In accordance with the circumstances at the time, Koviljka Pašalić was buried modestly in the monastery cemetery with a wooden cross that has since been weathered by time. For this reason, the Native Association, with the support of the Doboj City Administration, decided to build a monument after 33 years.

Blagojević pointed out that the goal is to immortalize the crime against a civilian victim who died in the most monstrous way at the hands of members of the so-called Army of BiH, whom no one has attempted to prosecute to this day, despite the known identities of these monsters.

"The criminals signed their names on the monastery narthex," Blagojević clarified.

He pointed out that the unfortunate Koviljka was not the only victim that May in 1993. He recalled that on the same night, the aforementioned sabotage unit carried out their bloody feast in the hamlet of Jelčići, slaughtering an elderly woman, Ranka Pavlović /66/, while she was preparing dinner.

Reconstructing these crimes, Blagojević stated it was established that the aggressor forces broke through to the Krstova hill. From that position, they had a clear view of the daily activities of the civilian population, who were busy working in the fields at the time, and they waited for nightfall to strike.

He also recalled that on June 12, 1992, Stojanka Lukić /22/ and Slavica Mrkaljević /21/ were killed in an ambush on the road toward Vozuća while returning in a vehicle from a relative's funeral in Gostovići.

"This ambush and murder were described in detail in a written report by a member of the so-called Army of BiH who commanded the sabotage unit during his briefing to the competent command," Blagojević says.

The sabotage action was also described in the book The Darkness and Light of Gostovići by an officer of the so-called Army of BiH, Safet Dželo from Kakanj, in which he stated that "in a successful operation, aggressor soldiers were destroyed, and an automatic rifle and a Skorpion pistol were captured," but he remained silent about the brutal murder of the two innocent young women.

Blagojević also recalled August 1992, when an elderly woman, Kosana Spasojević, was killed in Prisjeka, and her husband was taken away to an unknown destination.

He further pointed to the immense suffering of Serbs during the 1995 expulsion, when a joint operation by the Second and Third Corps of the so-called Army of BiH, NATO Rapid Reaction Forces, and the Pakistani UN peacekeeping contingent ethnically cleansed and burned 30 Serb villages, displacing 1,920 Serb families with ,7,680 members.

He noted that members of the Fourth Ozren Light Infantry Brigade never targeted civilians during the Defense-Patriotic War.

He warned that the suffering of the murdered Serb civilians has continued even after the Defense-Patriotic War, in peacetime, through the acquittals of the responsible parties from the so-called Army of BiH by judicial institutions.

Blagojević emphasized that this is confirmed by the recent verdict of the Appellate Chamber, which legally acquitted Ramiz Duraković, the former commander of the 43rd Drina Brigade of the so-called Army of BiH, of crimes against Serbs in the Čajniče area.