There is no justice, and our silence must not be complicity: Judiciary in the mirror of Lješevo while persecuting BiH defenders!

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Tomorrow we mark the 33rd anniversary of the crime in Lješevo. At this place, in Staro Selo, we will gather to revive with memory those who were brutally killed, more than twenty innocent Bosniaks, mostly elderly people, who only wanted to live peacefully. Their names, their faces, their memories must never be erased.

But what did we get afterwards? Neither justice nor accountability. No one has been held responsible for this horror. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, instead of justly prosecuting the perpetrators, has definitively acquitted Ranko Draškić and Savo Manojlović. Two names that should be symbols of punishment remain symbols of impunity.

And while some walk free, others are being tried. Unlike Marinko Vidović and Pero Vujović, whom the court cannot even approach because they are in Serbia, all the accused in the Čemerno case are available to the judicial bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Džemal Hadžić, Teufik Turudić, Džemal Smola, Senad, Haris and Benjamin Sikira, Enes Durak, Mirsad, Nusret and Mirzet Bešlija, Hamdija Spahić, and Nehru Ganić are accused of alleged war crimes committed in Čemerno! And all of them are available to the judiciary.

Hamdija Spahić did not live to see justice; under the pressure of the trial and proceedings, his health deteriorated, and Spahić passed away.

It's strange, isn't it? While the real executioners are far away and safe, those who defended this country are declared guilty and prosecuted as if they were criminals.

Prosecutor Vladimir Simović shamelessly stated in court that he was filing indictments on the orders of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska! And nothing happened. There was no reaction from the HJPC, nor from other institutions. Instead, Simović was promoted to the Supreme Court of RS. That hypocritical justice – which judges by political orders, not by law – is one of the deepest wounds we carry.

What was the Čemerno operation? The answer is clear: a fight for survival, for the protection of lives under shelling. It was not a systematically designed crime aimed at attacking civilians, but a desperate need to prevent further massacres that had already begun in Lješevo, Luka, Stari Ilijaš, Ljubina… Places that were left without justice, and the memories of them still live on. As we heard in court, JNA commanders, active officers of the former JNA and police are responsible for the shelling.

There were howitzers at Čemerno – six of them, shelling everything to the outskirts of Sarajevo.

Let's not forget the shelling of Slivno, 170 shells that fell on the neighboring village the day before the sabotage operation. This is not just history; it is an injustice that continues to this day. While remembering the victims of Lješevo, we must not close our eyes to this injustice.

Therefore, we say clearly: justice must be for all, not just for the chosen few. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived, our memories manipulated, or ourselves divided. Even after the war, the fight for truth and justice continues. Because there is no peace without justice.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office owes this country the truth. Not only for the sake of the victims but also for the future. Because where the law is political, justice dies. And with it, citizens' trust.

We are not seeking revenge. We are seeking truth. And we are seeking accountability.