Bosniaks from Sjeverin were taken by bus to Višegrad and then brutally killed on the banks of the Drina

Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the abduction and murder of 16 citizens of Bosniak nationality from Sjeverin in Serbia, writes the BH news agency Patria (NAP)

A group of Bosniaks set out on October 22, 1992, by bus towards Priboj, through the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when members of the Serbian paramilitary formation “Osvetnici” (Avengers), commanded by Milan Lukić, stopped them in the village of Mioče and, after checking their identification, took them out. There were 15 Bosniak men and one woman.

They were taken by truck to Višegrad to the motel “Vilina vlas” where, as was later established by the investigation, they were brutally psychologically and physically abused, and then killed on the banks of the Drina River. 

The murdered were: Mehmed Šebo, Zafer Hadžić, Medo Hadžić, Medredin Hodžić, Ramiz Begović, Derviš Softić, Modhad Softić, Mujo Alihodžić, Alija Mandal, Sead Pecikoza, Mustafa Bajramović, Hajrudin Sajtarević, Esad Džahić, Ramahudin Đatović, Ediz Gibović, and the only woman among them, Mevlida Koldžić. All were from the village of Sjeverin. 

For this crime, Tanjug reported today, as relayed by Patria, the District Court in Belgrade in July 2005 sentenced Milan Lukić, Oliver Krsmanović (both in absentia), and Dragutin Dragićević to 20 years in prison each, and Đorđe Šević to 15 years in prison. 

Lukić was arrested in early August 2005 in Argentina and extradited to the Hague Tribunal, where in 2009 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes in Višegrad. 

Krsmanović was arrested in May 2011 in the Višegrad area. 

Explaining the verdict, the presiding judge Vinka Beraha-Nikićević stated that it was undoubtedly proven that, led by their commander Lukić, Krsmanović, Dragutinović, and Šević, along with five other unknown members of the "Osvetnici", killed the 16 Sjeverin residents with automatic weapons and knives, and then threw them into the Drina. 

Abusing and killing civilians cannot be a form of patriotism, but only a terrible crime," said Beraha-Nikićević, emphasizing that the verdict serves as a prevention for similar cases to never happen again in these regions, Patria reports.