The 31st anniversary of the martyrdom of more than 60 Bosniak and Croat civilians who were taken to Sasina on September 21, 1995, where they were killed, was marked today with a memorial march from Sanski Most towards Sasina and an appropriate program.
In Sasina, along with the memorial dedicated to the victims, a religious program was held, as well as speeches by representatives of the victims’ families and associations, which for years have pointed to the need to prosecute those responsible for this crime.
According to the court-established facts published by Detektor, more than 60 persons of Bosniak and Croat nationality were taken to Sasina by bus that day, where they were shot dead. After the war, 65 remains of people in civilian clothes were exhumed in two localities near Sasina.
Families have been waiting for justice for years
The president of the Association of Sanski Most Camp Inmates, Sadmir Alibegović, said that this year’s commemoration is primarily dedicated to the victims and their families. According to him, on September 21, 1995, with false promises that they would be taken for exchange, the civilians were transferred from Sanski Most to Sasina. He stated that members of the Serbian Volunteer Guard, whom he called “Arkanovci”, as well as local members of the army and police, participated in their removal.
Alibegović pointed out that the families of the victims are particularly disappointed by the fact that no indictment has yet been filed against the direct perpetrators of this crime, nor has the investigation been completed. As he stated, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Una-Sana Canton and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH previously took a large number of statements, but the families are still waiting for concrete progress in the case.
“The families are very disappointed with the attitude towards this crime, because nothing has been done yet. The indictment has not been filed, the investigation has not been completed,” said Alibegović.
He believes that the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, due to the breadth of jurisdiction and the possibility of conducting an investigation, could play a significant role in elucidating the case.
“We hope that someone will listen to the voices of the victims and families and initiate a more extensive investigation in order to eventually find the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” said Alibegović.
“Every mother’s grief is the same”
Alibegović said that it is important to respect the victims regardless of their nationality or religion. “The grief of any mother or family member, regardless of religious or national affiliation, is the same. Grief for the murdered is the same,” he said.
He added that, in addition to prosecuting those responsible, the families also demand a dignified attitude towards the victims, including an end to the glorification of war crimes and war criminals. “At least to respect the dignity of that victim, not to glorify war crimes and criminals,” said Alibegović.
He expects the local authorities to visit families and victims not only during election years, but continuously, and to put pressure on judicial institutions to do their job. He especially warned that the passage of time makes the investigation even more difficult, since witnesses and people who could be connected to the crime die.
The message of the commemoration, he added, is that a similar crime should never happen again to anyone.
Memory is also important for new generations
Seid Omerović, the outgoing president of the Union of Prisoners of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that the anniversary celebration is important above all because of the young generations. According to him, camp inmates from the Krajina region strive to convey testimonies and knowledge about war events so that younger people understand their significance not only through memorialization and the culture of memory, but also in the context of today’s life and the future.
“The inmates from the Krajina region have a higher degree of awareness of the events and are trying to convey this, to warn the young generation that this is something that must be taken care of, not only from the aspect of memorialization and memory, but from the aspect of today’s life and our future,” said Omerović.
He pointed out that such a reminder is important for all young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Judicially established facts about the crime
Data from Detektor’s database of judicially established facts state that on September 21, 1995, more than 60 persons of Bosniak and Croat nationality were taken to Sasina by bus, where they were shot dead. After the war, 65 remains in civilian clothes were exhumed in two localities near Sasina.
The crime in Sasina was included in the case against Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts. The court findings state that a group of detainees from Sanski Most was transferred to Sasina, where at least 64 people were killed.
Željko Ražnatović Arkan was also charged by the Hague Prosecutor’s Office for the crimes committed in Sasina and Trnova, but his trial did not start, and the proceedings against him were suspended after he was killed in Belgrade in 2000.
Even today, 31 years after the crime, the families of the victims insist on establishing the responsibility of the immediate perpetrators and fully elucidating the circumstances under which their family members were taken and killed, Detektor writes.
