Another shameful attempt to deny war crimes and internationally proven court verdicts

(Patria) - The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide strongly condemns the promotion of the monograph "Sarajevo-Romanija Region in the Defense-Homeland War 1992-1996", which represents another shameful attempt to deny war crimes and internationally proven court verdicts.

Holding this event the day after marking the anniversary of the Markale massacre, in which members of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) killed 68 civilians and wounded 144, is an additional blow to the victims' families and the overall struggle for truth and justice.

This publication openly ignores irrefutable facts and verdicts of international courts, which have clearly established the responsibility of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the VRS for the siege of Sarajevo, the longest siege of a capital city in modern history, during which 11,541 civilians were killed, including 1,601 children.

This siege was not a military operation, but a deliberate and systematic crime against the civilian population, as confirmed in several verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

We particularly emphasize that two commanders of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps have been finally convicted for crimes against humanity and terror against the population of Sarajevo:

• Stanislav Galić - sentenced to life imprisonment;

• Dragomir Milošević - sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Furthermore, the ICTY, 20 years ago, provided the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the names of five snipers, members of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the First Sarajevo Motorized Brigade of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, who killed Sarajevans from the surrounding hills. Their names were mentioned in at least four Hague verdicts.

It is particularly concerning that one of the promoters of the monograph is Slobodan Župljanin, who is on trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for war crimes against Bosniaks and Croats in Kotor-Varoš.

His indictment, one of the most serious in the history of Bosnian-Herzegovinian judiciary, includes the murder of several hundred civilians, persecution, and other grave crimes.

We reject any attempt to falsify history and deny judicially established facts. This monograph is not a scientific work, but a political-propaganda pamphlet that serves to continue war rhetoric and relativize crimes.

International verdicts cannot be overturned by political gatherings, nor can the truth about the suffering of the civilian population of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina be hidden.

We call on domestic and international institutions to take this new attempt to deny crimes and glorify convicted war criminals with the utmost seriousness. Justice and truth are the only path to lasting peace and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina," stated the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide.