Anniversary of Sušica camp closure marked: Witnesses withdraw testimony against Kraljević and others under pressure

(Patria) - The 31st anniversary of the closure of the infamous Sušica camp was marked in Vlasenica today. The commemoration of the sad anniversary began with a Peace March that started from Turalići near Kladanj and ended in front of the former Sušica camp.

Hakija Hurić was in the Sušica camp, where he last saw his 16-year-old son Jasmin in that place of sorrow and pain.

- We haven't found him to this day. It was a horror. Daily killings, beatings, rapes... I spent 420 days in the Sušica camp and other camps. I returned to Vlasenica and live here with my wife. It hurts me that witnesses are withdrawing their testimony before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we all know what we went through – says Hakija Hurić.

Around 2,500 Bosniak civilians were killed in Vlasenica in the spring and summer of 1992. Dragan Nikolić Jenki, Predrag Bastah Car, and Goran Višković Vjetar were legally convicted of crimes. Currently, Mane Đurić, Radenko Stanić, Goran Garić, and Miroslav Kraljević, who is the current mayor, are being tried at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, writes Fena.

- We are concerned that a large number of witnesses have recently withdrawn their testimony. We assume this is due to threats and blackmail. This is not good for truth and justice because the truth about the crimes must be known – says Zajim Mahmutović, president of the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Vlasenica.

A religious program was also held in front of the Sušica camp, and at the end, the participants of the Peace March walked through the town to the Rakita martyrs' cemetery.