34 years since the killing of 22 civilians marked in Ilijaš: A crime for which victims' families still await justice

(Patria) - With a commemorative program and paying tribute, the 34th anniversary of the suffering of the residents of this settlement was marked today in Ilijaš at the Lješevo site.

That fateful year of 1992, 22 civilians from Lješevo were treacherously captured, after which they were liquidated by the aggressor.

On the orders of the wartime president of the Serbian municipality of Ilijaš, Ratko Adžić, and led by Vasilije Vidović Vasketa, decorated Chetnik vojvoda of Šešelj from Podlugovi, and Marinko Vidović, a former police officer, members of the Serbian forces committed this crime on June 5, 1992.

Eleven days after the crime, the killed were buried in a mass grave, which was exhumed in 1996, thereby opening the first mass grave in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On this occasion, flowers were laid today at the Memorial in Lješevo by the Minister for Veterans' Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Omer Osmanović.

Osmanović said that it is a devastating fact that families are still waiting for justice, and that for the murder of 11,541 killed citizens of Sarajevo, including civilians from Lješevo, no one has yet been held accountable.

- On this day, one of the terrible crimes in the area of Ilijaš was committed in Lješevo, when innocent people, including the elderly, women, and civilians, were shot solely because of their name and identity.

It is our moral and human obligation to preserve the truth about Lješevo, and I always emphasize that in Ilijaš, the culture of remembrance is especially nurtured and that in this way, the state is modestly built.

Today, we especially express our sympathy with the families who have been carrying the burden of pain and loss for more than three decades, seeking at least minimal justice for their murdered family members.

Their strength, dignity, and persistence in the fight for truth and justice deserve our deepest respect, and it is because of them that we gather at these places.

These people were not just a number in records; they are people who could be standing here before you today; we can only guess what role they would have in society today. The consolation for families, mothers, daughters, grandchildren is the hope that they will meet in a better place.

Let us not bow our heads humbly; let us raise them high in memory of every single name of the 22 inscribed on the plaque, and in the hearts of all of us. May they rest in eternal peace, we convey that they are not forgotten - Osmanović emphasized.

After laying flowers, those present visited the martyrs' cemetery in Lješevo, followed by the recitation of mevlud and tevhid.

In Lješevo, 34 years ago, the following were treacherously killed: Ćamil and Izet Avdukić, Suljo, Munira, Hasan, Arif, Meho, Safet, Ibrahim, Huso and Amir Fazlić, Husnija, Mujo, Jasmin, Mensud, Fadil, Mehmed and Munir Masnopita, Arif Omanović, Zubejda Suljić, Nijaz Nuhić and Asim Karavdić.