“Day of Russian Volunteer Fighters”, those who were part of the Army of the Republika Srpska (RS) during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was marked in Visegrad. The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH formed the case based on the request of the association “Women – Victims of War”, which believes that celebrating this day is an insult to Bosniaks. In RS, this day is included in the calendar of significant historical events.
Even after so many years since the war in BiH ended, there are no answers to many questions. The victims of Visegrad have been asking for years: What was the role of Russian volunteers in the last war? It is unclear whether the Russian Federation sent them on purpose, but it is clear that they were fighters in the territory of BiH. There were 700 of them in the RS Army.
“I was surprised that Russian volunteers from a foreign battlefield were under the command of Luka Dragicevic, commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, and that the same Luka is being tried now at the Court of BiH,” said Bakira Hasecic, president of the association ”Women – Victims of War”.
That is why victims today are asking the judiciary, members of the BiH Presidency, and the international community; on what basis did the Russian fighters come to BiH and why their identity was never determined. There is no answer, nor is there a ban on such gatherings. They asked the State Prosecutor’s Office of BiH to ban this marking for inciting national, religious, and racial hatred, as well as discord and intolerance. The prosecution has formed a case for now, but they do not want to give any more information.
“I don’t think they will stay only on the formed case, we have been waiting for 30 years for their identity to be established so that they can be prosecuted, and they are still free to come to the crime scene to celebrate their committed crimes,” Hasecic told.
“Probably, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has plenty of time, and if they are worried, why they did not open cases and prosecute criminals who committed crimes in the Volunteer and Tuzla column,” said Minister of Labor, War Veterans and Disabled Persons’ Protection of RS, Dusko Milunovic.
And while we accuse each other, the international community shows no interest in preventing such events. They did not want to comment on the events in Visegrad yesterday.
Despite the formed case in the State Prosecutor’s Office, the tradition of marking, as they say, will be continued.
“Find and prove that one of these names participated in a war crime, and we will remove it immediately,” stated Savo Cvijetinovic, president of the Association of Citizens of the Serbian-Russian Community.
While for some, yesterday’s date is one of the most significant historical events, for others it means insulting the victims and also celebrating the crimes committed in the city on river Drina, BHRT writes.
E.Dz.
