Goražde Rises for Its Heroes: Where Are the Indictments for Our Murdered Children?

(Patria) - Hundreds of citizens from Goražde and other places protested today, organized by the Coordination of Veterans' Associations of BPK Goražde and the Foundation "Truth for Goražde".

The reason is a new indictment by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina against 13 heroes of the defense of Goražde, members of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and at the same time, the non-prosecution of war crimes committed against the population of besieged Goražde.

Citizens, holding banners, walked from the Defenders of the City Square to the "Mirsad Hurić" City Hall, with a brief stop in front of the Prosecutor's Office of BPK Goražde.

Among those gathered were the parents of murdered children from Goražde. One of them is Mirsada Čaušević, mother of Haris, who was killed in 1994.

"I am here to ask who killed my child and 148 other children. I have given statements from SIPA onwards, but these documents are most likely all sitting in the drawers of the Prosecutor's Office. It has never been revealed who is guilty of this," says Čaušević.

More than 2,000 civilians were killed in besieged Goražde during the city's siege, which lasted from 1992 to 1995. But there are no indictments for these atrocities.

The president of the Foundation "Truth for Goražde", Kasim Brdar, stated that the city of heroes offered a hand to everyone, that it did not surrender in the 90s, and will not today, when the heroes who saved it are exposed to judicial persecution.

"The Army of Republika Srpska adopted Directive 4 on November 19, 1992, which ordered the Drina Corps to inflict as many losses as possible on our defenders, and to force the Muslim population to leave the Goražde area. The directive ordered our defenders to be offered to lay down their arms, and if they refused, the order was – destroy them. They tried and failed in '92, '93, '94, and '95. They will not succeed in defeating us and driving us from the Drina in 2023, or ever," Brdar emphasized.

Demands were sent from the rally to all competent authorities in BiH, and the citizens of Goražde also announced protests in front of the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH in seven days.