Thirty years since the murder of eight Sarajevans in front of 'Safvet-beg Bašagić' Elementary School

(Patria) - By laying flowers and paying tribute, families, friends, students, associations, and government representatives marked the 30th anniversary of the murder of eight Sarajevo citizens in front of 'Safvet-beg Bašagić' Elementary School.

On behalf of Sarajevo Canton, flowers were laid at the site of the massacre, which occurred at the intersection of Gimnazijska Street and Obala Kulina Bana, committed by the aggressor Army of Republika Srpska during the siege of Sarajevo, by KS Assembly representative Marijela Hašimbegović and KS Minister of Science, Higher Education and Youth Adna Mesihović.

On that sad day, the following were killed: Vildana Avdić, Dina Čomor, Rusmir Čopelj, Azra Hanić, Lejla Jahić, Razija Jahić, Amir Krivić, and Dino Šipilović. Ten of our fellow citizens were seriously and lightly wounded.

Minister Mesihović emphasized that the brutal murders and massacres of citizens of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina were not accidental, and this should always be repeated.

- Because how else can one explain these horrific murders that happened while children were sledding in Alipašino Polje, during children's play in Bistrik, in lines for water at Pivara and Daira, in Ferhadija in the bread line, during funerals in Budakovići and Boljakov Potok, at Markale market, Gradska tržnica, and many other places - said Mesihović.

That this was recognized by the International Court in The Hague is evidenced by the verdict of a maximum sentence, life imprisonment, for Stanislav Galić, commander of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska.

Dragomir Milošević, who succeeded Galić and continued the crimes against Sarajevans, was sentenced to 33 years by the Court.

The life sentence was also confirmed for Ratko Mladić, commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska.

- He was convicted, among other things, for a joint criminal enterprise "aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population of Sarajevo through a campaign of sniping and shelling".

Radovan Karadžić, the first president of Republika Srpska, is also serving a life sentence.

- Regardless of the past, our future must be built on the equality of all peoples and citizens. We must persevere in the ideas on which Bosnia and Herzegovina can and must survive, and these are the ideas of coexistence, mutual respect, and tolerance.

And for that to happen, justice must be served, and the perpetrators of these terrible crimes, including the one we are marking today, must be adequately punished - said Mesihović.