Anniversary of the crime against Bosniaks and Croats at Korićanske stijene marked

(Patria) - By throwing roses down the cliff at the site of the mass execution, family members of the victims, former camp inmates, government representatives, and numerous citizens on Thursday at the Korićanske stijene location, on Mount Vlašić, marked the 33rd anniversary of the mass execution of 224 camp inmates who were previously brought to the execution site under the pretext of being sent for exchange.

Family members of the murdered, former camp inmates, numerous citizens, representatives and members of victims' associations, by throwing roses down the cliff into a 300-meter deep abyss, remembered the executed camp inmates with tears and prayers, at the place where they were killed after being ordered to line up along the edge of the road towards the cliff and kneel. Then followed the gunshots which lasted, according to the testimonies of participants and perpetrators, for more than 15 minutes.

The president of the Association of Camp Inmates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Seid Omerović, said that the camp inmates at Korićanske stijene were killed by a triple execution.

“The triple execution of 224 camp inmates first involved shooting the persons lined up along the abyss in the back, then their fall down the Korićanske stijene, and finally bursts of fire and throwing grenades at the killed, in order to eliminate the possibility of any survivors or wounded. Despite all this, several camp inmates did survive and became witnesses to the monstrous executions at Korićanske stijene, and they made a huge contribution to the proceedings against the perpetrators in the courts in The Hague and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 10 police officers were sentenced to almost 200 years in prison by the courts for the massacre at Korićani, while the then president of the Crisis Staff of the Prijedor municipality, Milomir Stakić, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for war crimes in the Prijedor area, including the crime at Korićani,” he stated in the press release.

He emphasized that the crime at the abyss of Korićanske stijene was also committed to achieve the project of ethnically clean areas, “areas only for selected peoples who, in their philosophy, consider themselves to be worth more than others simply by their existence”.

“In psychology, this disorder is defined as fascism, and unfortunately, it still exists today. We recognize it in recent years, not only in our region but, unfortunately, in many other destinations in Europe and the world,” he stated.

At the Korićanske stijene location, on Mount Vlašić, in August 1992, 224 camp inmates were executed, who were previously brought to the execution site under the pretext of being sent for exchange.

At three micro-locations at Korićanske stijene, the remains of 182 Bosniaks and Croats from the areas of the municipalities of Prijedor and Kotor-Varoš were found. In this grave, the remains of 177 Bosniaks and five Croats were found. The search for all skeletal remains is still ongoing because the bodies of the murdered camp inmates were transferred and buried in other locations.

Prijedor Bosniaks, previously imprisoned in the concentration camps there, were lined up at Korićanske stijene by members of the intervention unit of the then Republika Srpska police from Prijedor, under the pretext of an exchange. Ordering them to kneel, they shot them in the back, after which their bodies fell into an abyss more than 300 meters deep.

Sentences for Korićanske stijene

For the crime at Korićanske stijene, 11 convicts received prison sentences totaling 200 years.

For crimes before the ICTY and the Court of BiH, Darko Mrđa was sentenced to 17, Damir Ivanković to 14, Gordan Đurić to eight, Ljubiša Četić to 13, Zoran Babić to 22, Milorad Škrbić to 21, Dušan Janković to 21, Željko Stojnić to 15, Saša Zečević to 23, Marinko Lepoja to 23, and Radoslav Knežević to 23 years in prison.