Duratović: No one has yet been held accountable for the murders of over 2,000 Bosniaks in Prijedor

SIPA arrested Darko Mrđa in Prijedor, whom the BiH Prosecutor's Office accuses of crimes against Bosniaks in Prijedor in 1992.

The President of the Association "Prijedor 92" Mirsad Duratović told the Patria News Agency that he welcomes the Prosecutor's Office's efforts to prosecute criminals, but believes it is high time for the authorities to start prosecuting those who ordered these crimes as well.

- Those who killed should continue to be prosecuted, but it is high time to open the discussion about who ordered the killings and who devised the persecution and crimes against the non-Bosniak population of Prijedor – says Duratović.

- In any era, there will be those who commit crimes for money, or who are fueled by nationalism, but those who devise these crimes must be prevented – he added.

Duratović says that according to what has been recorded to date, more than 3,170 people, mostly Bosniaks, were killed in Prijedor. Courts have convicted 42 perpetrators. The verdicts mostly relate to the murders of around 1,000 Bosniaks who were killed in camps. For the murders of more than 2,000 Bosniaks, who were killed in their homes, on the street, or in other locations, no one has yet been held accountable.

The Hague Tribunal convicted Mrđa in 2004 to 17 years in prison, but he was released in 2013. 

He was convicted because, along with other members of the intervention platoon, he personally participated in the execution, guarding, escorting, shooting, and murder of over 200 Bosniaks at Korićanske stijene, writes Patria.