Anniversary of Massacre Marked: Nine Killed, 20 Wounded at Funeral in Boljakov Potok 33 Years Ago

(Patria) - A delegation from the Canton of Sarajevo laid flowers today and paid tribute at the site of the massacre in the local cemetery in the Boljakov Potok settlement, near the "Umihana Ćuvidina" Elementary School.

33 years ago, during the funeral of Fatima Jusić, two grenades were fired from aggressor positions at the aforementioned cemetery, one of which fell among the gathered citizens. Its shrapnel killed nine and wounded 20 of our fellow citizens. The killed were: Asim Cvrk, Meho Čakarić, Alija Čaušević, Imšir Kerla, Mustafa Karajčić, Ibrahim Šehović, Ramo Veljan, and two unidentified male persons.

Addressing the attendees on behalf of the organizers - the Canton of Sarajevo, Elma Kapidžić from the KS Ministry of Health stated that by marking this sad day, we not only pay tribute to the murdered fellow citizens but also send a message that we will not forget.

"Places of remembrance, and today we are at one of them, are not just reminders of suffering and hardship, but also warnings for the future. It is a simple admonition: to do everything to never allow such crimes to happen again," Kapidžić stated.

She reminded that Sarajevo survived the longest siege of modern times, the siege by the Army of Republika Srpska, which made no distinction in killing and killed citizens of all ages, genders, religions, or nationalities.

"In the longest encirclement of our city in modern history, more than 12,000 people were killed, including 1,601 children. These are enormous numbers that we must not utter lightly, because each of them represents a name, a face, a story, and the immeasurable grief of families," Kapidžić said.

As she emphasized, justice is our debt to the victims.

"For the crimes committed in Sarajevo, international courts have convicted only a small number of those responsible: Stanislav Galić, Dragomir Milošević, and Ratko Mladić. Verdicts are important, but they are not enough on their own. Justice is not only in punishments, justice is also in acknowledging the truth, in fighting against denial, and in our unwavering determination to teach new generations about these events. To speak of justice is to speak of the future. Bosnia and Herzegovina must be built on the ideas of peace, coexistence, and mutual respect. There is no stable future without truth. Denying such crimes does not just deny the past, it sabotages the future. Therefore, we must insist on the truth, because only with truth do we build trust, and trust is the foundation of any coexistence," Kapidžić stated.

In addition to the delegation from the Canton of Sarajevo, flowers were also laid and tribute was paid by the families of the murdered, the Union of Civil War Victims of KS, students and teachers from "Umihana Čuvidina", "Avdo Smajlović", and "Pofalići" elementary schools, representatives of the City of Sarajevo, the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo, MZ Alipašin Most I, and other delegations.