Anniversary of the crime against Bosniaks of Vlasenica marked at Rakita Martyrs' Cemetery: 700 murdered still awaiting funeral prayers

(Patria) - The anniversary of the suffering of Vlasenica Bosniaks during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina was marked today at the Rakita Martyrs' Cemetery in Vlasenica.

Victims' families are once again faced with the painful fact that they cannot bury the remains of their loved ones. A large number of victims have not yet been found or identified.

The funeral prayer in absentia was led by the Tuzla Mufti Vahid-ef. Fazlović.

- Today, at these martyrs' cemeteries, we collectively remember all the martyrs in Vlasenica, all the innocent Vlasenica residents murdered in mass crimes and genocide, including more than 260 children.

On this day, we express our deepest sympathy to the families of the martyrs. However, today we are unable to fulfill the key purpose of our gathering because the competent institutions of this country, even after another year, have not provided the conditions for us to perform funeral prayers for the found and identified victims of mass crimes against Bosniaks in Vlasenica.

It is difficult to imagine the pain with which families await this day when 700 innocent Vlasenica residents have not yet been found and identified - said Mufti Fazlović.

He emphasized that all of us "today confirm that we strongly and permanently stand with the families of Vlasenica martyrs and with all Bosniaks living here in the hope that truth and justice will be served.



- Truth and justice will keep us vigilant and persistent in the future. Together with the families of the martyrs, we issue the strongest call for a responsible approach to finding all those innocently murdered, and for all perpetrators to face justice.

What we can do on this day is to humbly offer a prayer to Almighty God for all our martyrs and to perform the funeral prayer in absentia for the martyrs of Vlasenica - Mufti Fazlović conveyed.

In the coming period, visits will be made to the sites where crimes were committed against the Bosniaks of Vlasenica during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the spring and summer of 1992, about 2,500 Bosniaks were killed in Vlasenica.

Dragan Nikolić, Predrag Bastah, and Goran Višković have been finally convicted for war crimes committed against civilians in this region.

Several proceedings are currently underway before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina against individuals accused of crimes in Vlasenica, including the current mayor of the Municipality of Vlasenica, Miroslav Kraljević.