Anniversary of the crime at Korićanske stijene, 200 roses for 200 killed

25 years ago, at the Korićanske stijene site, 200 men, prisoners, mostly Bosniaks who were detained in the Prijedor camps, were shot, and on 21 August 1992, they were brought to this location, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- Here we exchange the dead for the dead and the living for the living - with these words, members of the RS Police Intervention Platoon from Prijedor lined up the prisoners at the edge of the abyss, ordered them to kneel, and shot them in the back, after which the bodies of the prisoners fell into a chasm over 300 meters deep. To ensure no one survived, they shot and threw bombs at the bodies in the ravine.

Organised by the Association of Prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 25th anniversary of the horrific crime against prisoners at the Korićanske stijene site (Mount Vlašić, Kneževo – Skender Vakuf municipality) will be marked.

The massacre at Korićanske stijene was survived by 12 people, whose testimonies contributed to the prosecution and punishment of some of those responsible, and to the recording of the truth about this crime. Not all victims of this crime have yet been found. 80 percent of skeletal remains are still being sought.

The bodies of the killed prisoners were moved and buried at other sites, as evidenced by footage from the Prijedor Public Security Service taken on 4 September 1992; however, those responsible for this crime and those who participated in moving the bodies (members of the RS Police and Civil Protection from Skender Vakuf) still remain silent about the location of this mass grave.

For the crime at Korićanske stijene, before the ICTY and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the following were sentenced: Darko Mrđa to 17 years in prison, Damir Ivanković to 14 years, Gordan Đurić to 8 years, Ljubiša Četić to 13 years, Zoran Babić to 22 years, Milorad Škrbić to 21 years, Dušan Janković to 21 years, Željko Stojnić to 15 years, Saša Zečević to 23 years, Marinko Lepoja to 23 years, and Radoslav Knežević to 23 years in prison.

In memory of the brutally killed prisoners, those gathered will throw 200 roses from the edge of the cliff, all with the aim of keeping the culture of remembrance and memorialisation alive.