DIRECTED BY THE BiH PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE: Those who captured Alija and shot at Sarajevo are now prosecuting the city's defense heroes!

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

No one has ever been held accountable for the kidnapping of the President of the Presidency of the Republic of BiH, Alija Izetbegović. Although he was forcibly taken to Lukavica on May 2, 1992, where he spent the night against his will and from where he spoke with members of the Presidency of the Republic of BiH, Ejup Ganić and Stjepan Kljuić, about allowing JNA soldiers to leave Bistrik and the Dom Armije, even 30 years later, there are no indictments for either the kidnapping or the siege of Sarajevo.

However, there are indictments for the 'Dobrovoljačka case'. Among others, Ganić is being prosecuted in this case, and the BiH Prosecutor's Office, specifically prosecutors Milanko Kajganić and Mladen Vukojičić (both signed the indictment), claim that Izetbegović was not kidnapped but saved! This indictment does not mention May 2nd, the day preceding May 3rd, even once. The court panel presiding over this case has, of course, allowed the defense to go beyond the scope of the indictment, because May 3rd did not fall from the sky but was a reaction to everything that preceded it, including fierce fighting by Serbian forces, shelling of Sarajevo...

On that May 2, 1992, Izetbegović was returning to the country with a delegation from negotiations in Lisbon. His daughter Sabina was also in the delegation.
Upon the plane's landing at the airport, he was captured by the aggressor JNA.

The public heard a dramatic dialogue between the captured Izetbegović and member of the state Presidency Ejup Ganić, in which Kljuić also participated, which was broadcast on Sarajevo Television.

Ganić: "Alija, listen to something... Why don't you come to the Presidency?"

Alija Izetbegović: "Because they won't let me come! I was forcibly brought here to Lukavica. The army was at the airport, I was trying to establish contact with you, with home!"

No recordings are sufficient for the prosecutors at the BiH Prosecutor's Office to claim otherwise.

Their witnesses are individuals who shot at Sarajevo on May 2nd. Imagine all the nausea you can feel when, in the middle of Sarajevo, the heroic city, an aggressor testifies against the most prominent representatives of the civilian, military, and police leadership of the Republic of BiH, who led the defense.

And that is why, precisely today, May 2, 2024, it is worth pointing out that the BiH Prosecutor's Office has presented Danilo Beribaka, an decorated member of the Army of Republika Srpska, as a witness, who testified that in May 1992 he was a contract soldier – a mercenary, stationed at the Viktor Bubanj barracks.

This witness, just like the one before him, Draško Đurić, was questioned in Belgrade, but the defense does not have those statements.

Regarding the critical period, he stated that on May 2, 1992, they were informed that the Command of the Second Military District at the barracks had been attacked and that they moved from the Viktor Bubanj barracks towards Bistrik in armored vehicles, and that he was the gunner who fired at Sarajevo on May 2nd.

They were not allowed to move without authorization at that time. The JNA had already been disbanded, and they were effectively terrorists. Beribaka admitted that he shot at the city on May 2nd!

"I fired at the Elektroprivreda building, responding to gunfire, and at Skenderija, as far as I could see, one military vehicle was destroyed and a tram was burning. We arrived at the command of the Second Military District, and I remained in the vehicle. Gunfire started from the direction of the mosque, so I returned fire with a burst," Beribaka recounted.

He has not been indicted for this. The BiH Prosecutor's Office apparently considers Elektroprivreda and civilians legitimate military targets, and the JNA column as civilians!

That is the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which allowed Beribaka to smirk nonchalantly in the courtroom, proudly stating that his machine-gun action on Elektroprivreda, the mosque, and other buildings in Sarajevo on May 2, 1992, i.e., his actions at the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo, indicate that he has never been prosecuted for committing war crimes related to what he did on May 2nd in Sarajevo.

It is known to everyone that on April 27, 1992, an order was issued by the Presidency of the Republic of BiH for the withdrawal of JNA forces.

But, alas, the aggressors do not remember the decision of April 29, 1992, to violate the Decision of the BiH Presidency.

All citizens of Sarajevo still remember the soldier standing on the transporter in Otoka, saying he would hit the first building. It was Second Lieutenant Pelemiš, and Beribaka claims he was with him and that Pelemiš did not want to shoot!

So, these are my Sarajevans, witnesses in the Dobrovoljačka case, those who shot at you are now testifying against those who organized and led the defense!
And it's not just the Prosecutor's Office that is to blame; the HJPC is also to blame for this humiliation, which remains silent and does not prosecute prosecutors who fabricate indictments according to Serbia's wishes.