Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Željko Reiner: We condemn those who deny the genocide in Srebrenica

A commemorative program was held at the Croatian Parliament on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica. The organizer of the commemorative program is Bandić Milan 365 - Party of Labour and Solidarity, independent representative Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj, the Council of the Bosniak National Minority of the City of Zagreb, and the Cultural Association of Bosniaks of Croatia „Preporod“, writes Patria.

- Every year, we Bosniaks must remember the 8,372 restless victims, killed in 1995 in a UN safe zone. We renounce revenge and the desire for settling scores, but we persist and insist on justice - said the president of the Council of the Bosniak National Minority of the City of Zagreb, Harun Omerbašić, in the introductory part of the commemorative program, as published on the Parliament's website. Omerbašić also recalled the decision of the Croatian Parliament from 2009 on declaring July 11th as the Day of Remembrance of the Genocide in Srebrenica.

Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj, a representative of the Albanian, Bosniak, Montenegrin, Macedonian, and Slovenian national minorities in the Croatian Parliament, said that the Croatian Parliament will continue to be a place from which the full truth about the tragedy in Srebrenica will be conveyed.

The Mayor of the City of Zagreb, Milan Bandić, recalled that the crime in Srebrenica is the most heinous crime in Europe after World War II, adding that justice has not yet been served, and the victims have not been forgotten.

- We must build a free and democratic society in the spirit of tolerance; we owe this to the innocent victims whom we remember today with special reverence - said Mayor Bandić.

The Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Željko Reiner, emphasized that 21 years ago, a terrible crime occurred in Srebrenica, before the eyes of the international public, which gives the genocide in Srebrenica special weight.

- Today we gathered to express our deep sympathy with the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica and their loved ones, and to once again issue a sharp and unequivocal condemnation of every crime committed out of religious, racial, or national hatred, as well as the condemnation of all those who still deny today that a planned mass crime was committed in Srebrenica. The bloody experience of the genocide in Srebrenica obliges all of humanity, and especially us in the region of Southeast Europe, to persist in uncovering and condemning all crimes and bringing all perpetrators to justice. This is our obligation if we truly want to enable the citizens of our countries to live in peace and freedom, concluded Reiner, reports Patria.