ŽIVKOVIĆ-RAJILIĆ: HVO UNIFORMS IN MODRAN WOULD PROVOKE SERBS

BANJA LUKA, MARCH 12 /SRNA/ - The institutions of Republika Srpska must urgently ban the gathering of uniformed members of the Croatian Defense Council /HVO/ in Modran near Derventa scheduled for March 21, as well as any similar event that provokes Serbs, Božica Živković-Rajilić, president of the Association of Women Victims of War of Republika Srpska, told SRNA.

Živković-Rajilić stressed that it must not be allowed for the population of Derventa to relive trauma because of memories of the suffering they endured.

"Should former Serb detainees from Derventa have to look at Ustasha iconography in their own town, or should mothers step aside for those who killed their children and destroyed their property? Should they step aside before those who wanted to erase everything Serbian in Posavina?" Živković-Rajilić asked.

She emphasized that it is not clear to her what the Croats hope to achieve with this gathering.

"Do they want to send a message to Serbs - we didn't kill you all, but we are coming back to finish the job, or are they gloating - here we are again, and this time in your own republic, and you can do nothing to us," Živković-Rajilić said.

The Veterans' Organization of Republika Srpska has called on the Interior Ministry and other competent authorities to ban the commemoration marking the 34th anniversary of the formation of the 3rd Battalion Modran of the 103rd Brigade of the HVO, scheduled for March 21 in Modran near Derventa, and to conduct an investigation into its organization, warning that they will otherwise be forced to prevent the gathering themselves.