MAY 15, 1992: The Day Tuzla Defended Itself Against the Aggressor

(Patria) - 33 years ago, on May 15, 1992, members of the MUP of RBiH and the Territorial Defense of RBiH at Brčanska Malta in Tuzla defeated the units of the former JNA and Serbian paramilitary forces, writes Patria.

While withdrawing from the Husinska buna barracks, they attempted to occupy Tuzla on May 15, 1992.

The wartime mayor and president of the Tuzla Crisis Staff, Selim Bešlagić, said in one of his interviews that the people of Tuzla responded to the attack by the former JNA units and Serbian paramilitary formations by defending the city.

It was a day, Bešlagić recalled, when the people of Tuzla showed they were ready to defend their freedom.

"Tuzla defended itself on May 15. The essence is that 49 soldiers died then, but the RS claims that far more died. They are politicizing the entire case," said Bešlagić.

A court case was conducted in Belgrade for the attack on the JNA column in 1992, in which Ilija Jurišić, as a member of the MUP of RBiH, was accused of ordering the attack on the column. In March 2016, Jurišić was definitively acquitted after a multi-year court process and his stay in a Belgrade prison, followed by his release to defend himself from freedom. He was arrested on May 14, 2007, at Belgrade's "Nikola Tesla" Airport.

Colonel Dubajić confirmed that he voluntarily set off with the column from the barracks

The former commander of the former JNA barracks in Tuzla, Colonel Mile Dubajić, also testified at Ilija Jurišić's trial. Dubajić admitted that the evacuation of the barracks on May 15, 1992, was not agreed upon, but was his personal decision.

The fact that there was no agreement between RBiH and the former JNA regarding the peaceful departure from the barracks was also confirmed by a document from the Ministry of Defense of Serbia.

May 15 will be marked today with a series of activities, including laying flowers for the fallen defenders of BiH and Tuzla. The gathering is at 12:30 PM at Brčanska Malta, and then at 2:00 PM at Slana Banja.