| The 22nd Anniversary of The Opening of Mass Grave marked |
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| Tuesday, 03 April 2018 | |
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MRKONJIC GRAD, April 1 /SRNA/ - The 22nd anniversary of the opening of a mass grave from which mortal remains of 181 Serbian soldiers and civilians were exhumed was marked today in Mrkonjic Grad. They were killed in an attack by the Croatian Army, the so-called Army of BiH and the Croatian Defense Council /HVO/ on this western Krajina municipality.
A memorial service was held today in the St. Mark the Evangelist Chapel for those killed and wreaths were laid at a mass grave memorial at the Orthodox cemetery in Mrkonjic Grad. The Croatian Army, together with units of the so-called Army of BiH, in September and October 1995 attacked 13 Western Krajina municipalities, killing 1,646 and expelling 120,000 Serbs on the occasion. After Republika Srpska regained control of Mrkonjic Grad Municipality, the greatest mass grave containing mortal remains of 181 massacred Serbian soldiers and civilians was discovered at the Orthodox cemetery.
Even though those who committed and ordered these crimes are known, no one has yet been brought to justice for them.
The Republika Srpska Minister of Labor and Veterans’ Affairs, Milenko Savanovic, has told reporters that it is a disgrace for all international factors, particularly the ICTY, that these war crimes have not yet been prosecuted. Savanovic has said that there are attempts “to resolve something” at the level of institutions, but that these cases are kept in drawers of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH or in Croatia. “This speaks of a strategy that there must not be Serbs west of River Drina,” Savanovic has said, stressing that he expects someone to answer for these crimes. He has noted that the survival in these parts is possible only if Republika Srpska is strong economically and if it is united. Families of victims found in the mass grave in Mrkonjic Grad say that even today, after more than two decades, they feel the pain of injustice and of that which was done to their loved ones. Ljija Peric, whose brother Slobodan /25/, father Dusan /52/ and uncle Milorad /40/ were found in the mass grave, says she was at this place when the mass grave was opened and that the scene was horrific. “A great massacre occurred here. Normal people would not have killed animals that way. It was horrible to watch the victims. I hope to live to see the day when justice is served and someone is brought to justice,” Peric has said. Lawyer Goran Maric, whose father was found in the mass grave, says that the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH is obstructing the justice here. “In the end, it will be like nothing happened here in 1995. Those working in the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and those who might influence the Prosecutor’s Office, and I mean politicians from Republika Srpska who pretend to be representatives of the Serbian people in joint BiH bodies, are to blame for this,” Maric has said. A documentary about the exhumation was screened in the hall of the Mrkonjic Grad municipal assembly and the families of those killed were presented with books titled “Do not Forget, the Beloved Country.” Among those exhumed from the mass grave in Mrkonjic Grad are 81 civilians, 97 members of the Republika Srpska Army and three members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Bodies of ten women have also been exhumed. The oldest victim was 90 and the youngest was only seven years of age. The autopsy, which was conducted by a team of renowned Belgrade pathologist Zoran Stankovic, showed that they were all tortured and brutally murdered. Another 176 bodies have been discovered in smaller graves in the area of Mrkonjic Grad Municipality. 
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