Tuzla tells Dodik: You want to win elections over murdered children

A press conference was held at the Tuzla City Hall, addressed by Mayor Jasmin Imamović and Edin Hurić, president of the Association „25 May“ from Tuzla, on the occasion of recent statements by RS President Milorad Dodik about the crime at Kapija in Tuzla on the show Telering by editor and host Mate Đaković on RTRS, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

- Milorad Dodik is persistent in provocations of the worst kind. No sane person understands why he persistently denies the genocide in Srebrenica, the war crimes at Kapija in Tuzla and at Markale in Sarajevo. The Hague Tribunal and the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina have said everything about that. It is not peoples who have been finally convicted, but war criminals who, like all criminals in the world, have a specific name and surname. For the crime at Kapija, Novak Đukić was finally convicted, and accomplices are still being sought. Whenever he faces a crisis, especially before elections, Milorad Dodik serves the public his fabrications, to hurt the citizens of the Federation of BiH as deeply as possible, provoke justified reactions, so that afterwards, among the citizens of Republika Srpska, he creates a need to protect him, and thus grant him their votes in the elections - said Imamović.

Denial of a finally proven genocide and war crime is a dangerous attempt to twist truth into untruth, which favors the creation of conditions for such a crime to be repeated in the future. Our wish is that the crime at Kapija never happens to anyone again. In this way, Dodik fuels conflicts and stops the process of reconciliation and development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a condition for a better life for all its citizens, regardless of their ethnic affiliation.

Milorad, citizens of all nationalities yearn for reconciliation and a normal life worthy of a human being. Yesterday, on the occasion of the renovation of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Požarnica, we witnessed the massive enthusiasm of people who equally welcomed Presidency member Mladen Ivanić, the Mayor of Bijeljina Mićo Mičić, and me, rejoicing to see together the Bishop of the Zvornik-Tuzla Diocese and the Chief Imam of Tuzla. In the hearts of good people, Milorad, there is no desire to be wolves to each other; they want to be brothers to each other.

The crime at Kapija is the greatest tragedy in the history of Tuzla. Once again, you have deeply, too deeply hurt all the citizens of Tuzla. The only thing that consoles us is the hope that in the end, all our citizens, no matter which nation they belong to, in their desire for a normal life, will be on one side, and you and individuals like you, no matter which nation you belong to, on the other side of history. With your statements and actions, you have already secured for yourself the role of one of the greatest villains in the recent history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In history, you will be read about as a man who engaged in business and personal profit during the war, as a man who got rich amidst a mass of poor people, as a heartless man to whom nothing is sacred, not even the murdered children at Tuzla's Kapija.

The president of the Association „25 May Kapija“, Edin Hurić, said that the members of the Association and the parents of the victims had to react in this way and thanked the Mayor of Tuzla for the support provided.

He agreed with the Mayor's words that Milorad Dodik, in every crisis, especially before elections, persistently mentions the crimes in Srebrenica, at Markale in Sarajevo, and at Kapija in Tuzla, and that in this way, over murdered children, he tries to win elections.

He added that the final verdict of the Supreme Court of the FBiH should be respected, and that no one wants to blame the entire Serbian people for the crimes for which Novak Đukić was convicted. Proof of this, he concluded, are the girls and young men from Belgrade who visited Kapija and do not want to bear the burden of shame because of the criminals. Hurić also emphasized that every year, by denying the crime in a monstrous and crude way, great pain is inflicted on parents who want the truth to be respected, and he sent a message to Milorad Dodik to stop besmirching the memory of Kapija and insulting the citizens of Tuzla and BiH.