The Vice-President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Refik Lendo attended today the final program of the event “Prayers for martyrs, living reminders – Vrbanja 2026”, which marked the 33rd anniversary of the crime against 45 Bosniak civilians from the settlements of Vrbanja, Crniče and Vrpeč.
Lendo laid flowers and paid tribute to the martyrs at the Central memorial in Bugojno, as well as at the memorial in Vrbanja.
Addressing the audience, he pointed out that the families of the murdered have been waiting for justice for more than three decades and that the institutions have not yet done enough.
“Forty-five Bosniaks were killed just because they were Bosniaks and stayed at their hearths. The crime in Vrbanja left a permanent wound in Bugojno and became part of the difficult history of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
As announced by the office of the Vice President of the FBiH, he emphasized that these days throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina are commemorating the anniversaries of the greatest suffering of Bosniaks in the past war and that all places of suffering carry the same warning – that the crimes must not be forgotten or relativized.
“We have no right to be indifferent to any place of suffering or to any family that is still waiting for justice. The truth about Vrbanja must be preserved and those responsible prosecuted. We owe that to the murdered and their families,” said Lendo.
To date, only one person has been prosecuted for the crime committed by members of the HVO in the settlements of Vrbanja, Vrpeć and Crniče. This year too, an invitation was sent to the competent judicial institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to prosecute those responsible.
