Lost entire family in the war: I do not condemn the people, I condemn the criminals

(Patria) - Adel Šabanović was in the second grade of elementary school when Serbian paramilitary formations raided the village of Zaklopača in eastern Bosnia, and began persecuting, capturing and killing Bosniaks. Šabanović survived that massacre, together with his grandmother with whom he stayed in Zaklopača until May 16, 1992, after which they hid in the forests to save their lives. He is also a witness to the crimes in Srebrenica in the summer of 1995.

Few residents of Zaklopača survived May 16, 1992, when 59 Bosniak civilians were killed, including 12 children.

Those events, Šabanović says, left an indelible mark on him. Today, without relatives, most of whom were killed, partly in Zaklopača and partly in Srebrenica (he lost 22 family members in Srebrenica), Šabanović awaits the verdict for Radovan Karadžić in Miševići near Hadžići.

Šabanović also lost his father in the war in 1992. His father was killed when he returned from Belgrade where he worked. Upon returning from that city, passengers were taken off the bus, killed, and thrown into the Drina River from the Zvornik bridge.

"We must not forget the mothers, wives, and children and many who were killed and buried in mass graves," says Šabanović, recalling the camps "Sušica" in Vlasenica, the "Vuk Karadžić" elementary school in Bratunac, and numerous other camps where many were killed in the most brutal way, only because they prayed to God differently.

Šabanović emphasizes that he expects Karadžić to be found guilty not only for Srebrenica but also for genocide in seven other municipalities, including Bratunac, Foča, Ključ, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Vlasenica, and Zvornik (acquitted in the first-instance verdict) and to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

"That could be a glimmer of hope for the victims that justice does exist," said Šabanović.

He adds that it is difficult for him even when officials from the Republika Srpska, an entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, today deny the victims and relativize them.

"I do not collectively condemn the people, I condemn the criminals. Justice must be achieved if it exists in this world," emphasized the witness to the horrific crimes in eastern Bosnia.