In Sarajevo yesterday, the Day of Remembrance for the 1.601 children killed during the siege of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which lasted from 1992 to 1995, was marked. A commemoration was held at the Memorial to the Murdered Children of Besieged Sarajevo, located in the city center, where numerous citizens, family members of the victims, students, representatives of authorities, and officials laid flowers and paid tribute to the innocent victims.
By a decision from 2019, May 5th was declared a Day of Mourning in Canton Sarajevo (CS), and all public entertainment events on that day are canceled as a sign of respect for the killed children.
The president of the Association of Parents, Fikret Grabovica, said that the monument does not represent just a place of remembrance, but also a symbol of warning. He called on those present, especially the young, to love their city and country and to stay here and realize their dreams, despite the painful past.
“It is shameful for the Prosecutor‘s Office that not a single indictment has been issued. What‘s especially painful for the parents is knowing that there is still not a single indictment – and we know this is also one of the key conditions to prevent such evil from happening again,” said Grabovica.
The siege of Sarajevo, the longest in modern warfare history, lasted 1.425 days. During that period, 11.541 citizens were killed, including 1.601 children. About 350.000 residents were exposed daily to shelling and sniper fire from positions of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), and it is estimated that about half a million projectiles were fired at the city.
