At least three children who were killed by the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the siege of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Sarajevo, were presented in the RS entity as Serbian children killed by the Army of the Republic of BiH (ARBiH), which caused real shock and disbelief among the murdered children’s families and other citizens.
Citing data from the Republic Center for Research of War, War Crimes and Search for Missing Persons (RCIRZ), the entity’s public service Radio Television of RS (RTRS) broadcast a report on Serbian children killed in Istocno Sarajevo, under the control of the VRS from 1992 to 1995, showing names and children who were killed by the VRS on the other side of the war line, in Sarajevo.
The families of the murdered children from Sarajevo who were on the list of the RCIRZ as victims of the ARBiH have announced a lawsuit for misuse of the names of their loved ones.
Brother on the list in the RS
Danijela Sahat, whose brother Damir Dodik was on the RCIRZ list, points out that she was shocked when she saw her brother’s name on that list.
“When I read this information in the media, I was very shocked. You find yourself in a situation where you don’t believe what is happening and you read the name and surname of your brother, who was 17 years old, who died in besieged Sarajevo in Marijin Dvor while riding a bicycle on June 25th, 1995. You get into a situation where you wonder if we were really there if we are there in besieged Sarajevo, if we were at war. This leads to a situation where we start to think that we have shot ourselves and that we have killed ourselves,” Sahat said.
Brother killed by a Chetnik shell
Dejan Malesevic, the brother of the murdered Igor Malesevic, points out that he is in shock, and that his mother, who is 74 years old, is the most affected.
“First of all, I have to say that my brother is not a Serbian child, we are a Catholic family that has lived in Cengic-Vila since the 1970s. It is most shocking for my mother, who after 31 years has to go through all this, and today (August 11th, Friday) is also the anniversary of my brother’s death. That was the worst for me because now they are trying to say that my brother was killed in our settlement in Cengic-Vila by the ARBiH. This is a heinous lie. He was killed by a Chetnik shell, in front of the building. He was hit on August 5th and died on August 11th in the hospital. I have a discharge letter that says everything. I have proof that they are telling lies and that it is a big lie,” Malesevic stated.
He emphasized that they are preparing a lawsuit and that they are asking the RCIRZ to issue a public apology, despite the fact that they removed the disputed names of the children from the list.
The Siege of Sarajevo
The siege of Sarajevo began on April 5th, 1992, and ended on February 29th, 1996. It lasted 1.425 days.
During that time, about 350.000 inhabitants were exposed to daily fire from members of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and paramilitary formations, and later members of the VRS, from almost all types of weapons, from positions located on the surrounding hills. They did not manage to descend and occupy the city only thanks to the great will, desire, and efforts of the defenders, the citizens who responded to the call for defense and initially stood on the city’s rampart almost bare-handed, in tennis shoes and jeans, with minimal weapons, Federalna reports.
E.Dz.
