Numerous citizens, relatives, friends and officials of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, by laying flowers, observing a minute of silence and reciting the prayer, remembered the people of Sarajevo who were killed on this day in 1995 at the entrance to the City Market in Markale.
Those present remembered the crime in Markale, in which 43 Sarajevo citizens were killed, while 84 were lightly and seriously wounded.
A mortar shell fired from the direction of Trebević Mountain exploded near the northern entrance to Sarajevo’s City Market. On this day, 28 years ago today, the Serbian military, police and paramilitary formations committed another in a series of crimes in the war waged in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 until the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in November 1995.
Today, on this occasion, flowers were laid and the names of those who died in Sarajevo were read.
Relatives of Jasmina Hodžić, who died in the massacre in Markale, said that the girl was 32 years old at the time and that she was planning to get married in those days.
“She worked, contacted us. We sent her what she needed. Two days before that, we received a letter from her saying that she was getting married and that she needed to buy some things. We sent it to her. She went to town to buy something for the wedding and it happened. The parents only had her, it’s a big tragedy. And now there are some of her things in her room. It’s hard to talk about it,” said Jasmin’s relatives Zahid and Hasreta Hodžić.
Civilian victim of the war Šefika Skorupan stated that it is very important for the young generation to know what happened during the siege of Sarajevo and the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We should remind the youth about this every day so that it never happens again to anyone. Suffering in Markale is a great sadness. Many are no longer among us and did not receive justice. This is a shame of the world,” said Skorupan.
She also recalled the events of that fateful day, when the victims were brought to the then Military Hospital.
“That day I was at the physiatry and at that time so many cars were bringing wounded people. I saw a girl through the window, only the body remained. It was a horror to see, let alone experience,” said Skorupan.
The Chairman of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, Elvedin Okerić, in his address, pointed out that the citizens of the capital BiH city were constantly the target of attacks during the siege.
“This was not the first time that the citizens of Sarajevo, trying only to survive, were killed and it was not accidental. We saw that in the queues for water and bread,” said Okerić and added:
“Regardless of the past, our future must be built on the equality of all peoples and citizens. We must persist in the ideas on which Bosnia and Herzegovina can and must survive, namely the ideas of coexistence, mutual respect and tolerance. But for it to be so, justice must be served and the perpetrators of these terrible crimes must be punished.”
In the crime that took place at the northern entrance to Sarajevo’s City Market on August 28, 1995, right before the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the following people were killed: Omer Ajanović, Hidajet Alić, Salko Alić, Zeno Bašević, Husein Baktašević, Sevda Brkan-Kruščica, Vera Brutus-Đukić, Halida Cepić, Paša Crnčalo, Mejra Cocalić, Razija Colić, Esad Čoranbegić, Dario Dlouhi, Salko Duraković, Alija Dževlan, Najla Fazlić, Rijad Garbo, Ibrahim Hajvaz, Meho Herceglić, Jasmina Hodžić, Hajrudin Hozo, Jusuf Hašimbegović, Adnan Ibrahimagić, Ilija Karanović, Mesudija Kerović, Vehid Komar, Muhamed Kukić, Mirsad Kovačević, Hašim Kurtović, Ismet Klarić, Masija Lončar, Osman Mahmutović, Senad Muratović, Goran Poturković, Blaženka Smoljan, Hamid Smajlhodžić, Hajro Šatrović, Samir Topuzović, Hamza Tunović , Ajdin Vukotić, Sabaheta Vukotić, Meho Zećo and Narima Žiga.
A year and a half earlier, on February 5, 1994, a shell also fell on Markale from Serbian positions around the then besieged Sarajevo, killing 68 and wounding 144 people.
