Bećirović: Dodik's anti-civilizational denial of the siege of Sarajevo cannot hide the truth, nor erase UN court rulings

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - In response to the malicious and false claim by the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, that Sarajevo was neither besieged nor surrounded during the war, a member of the BiH Presidency, Denis Bećirović, has spoken out.

"The latest statement by the president of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, is yet another in a series of his attempts at deception, misleading, and disinformation of the public, following the example of the worst propagandists of the 20th century, but which certainly cannot erase the facts and rulings of the United Nations courts.

The siege of Sarajevo began on April 5, 1992, and lasted 1,425 days. During the brutal siege of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11,541 citizens of Sarajevo were killed, including 1,601 children. These are facts.

Criminals killed the children of Sarajevo, the elderly, women, and citizens of Sarajevo. Numerous graves and tombs of innocently killed residents of Sarajevo across the city bear witness to this today. Milorad Dodik and his followers will never be able to deny that Sarajevo defended itself and that the idea of coexistence and a multi-ethnic capital of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina prevailed.

His targeted and immoral denial of the crimes committed against civilians in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is based on an ideology of evil, which unfortunately lives on today. That ideology led some of Dodik's predecessors behind bars. The laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina are clear, and they do not allow the denial of genocide, crimes against humanity, and other crimes.

I believe that these inadmissible and anti-civilizational outbursts by Milorad Dodik, which generate hatred and mistrust in Bosnia and Herzegovina, should be sanctioned immediately. I once again call on the representatives of the European Union to join the sanctions of the democratic world against politicians who endanger the Dayton Peace Agreement and deny final international court rulings.

I will conclude with the message I conveyed on Sarajevo City Day, April 6, which is that Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina will become stronger year by year, despite attempts to spread falsehoods," Bećirović stated.