The Association “Woman – Victim of War” today marked the 33rd anniversary of the “living pyre” in Pionirska, one of the most terrible crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the past war.
On this day in 1992, in the house of Adem Omeragić, members of the paramilitary formation Osvetnici, led by the most cruel criminals from Višegrad, Milan and Sredoje Lukić, forced about 70 Bosniak civilians into the house, mostly women and children, where they locked them and then set them on fire. They threw a grenade into the house and shot at those who tried to escape through the window. The youngest victim, a baby in her mother’s arms, was only two days old and did not even manage to get a name. Their remains have never been found.
The surviving victims, family members of the murdered, have today appealed to discover the places where their bones were taken, so that they can be buried with dignity.
For the first time in 33 years, Emin Vila found the strength to come to the crime scene, where his family members were set on fire. Through tears, he explains that his sister Jasmina was set on fire in Pionirska Street, while other members of his family were also killed.
“It comes to my mind, I couldn’t come sooner. It’s hard. My brother and father and uncle and cousin, they were all killed. My mother survived, she went to Visoko, they somehow found her. Then they looked for me, they couldn’t find me, I checked out of Belgrade, because there was a search for me – Milan, Sredoje, Ljubiša and the others. They couldn’t find me and they declared me missing. With four or five ID cards, I hid around Belgrade. When these bastards were arrested, I was released,” said Vila.
The president of the Association “Woman – Victim of War” Bakira Hasečić reminded that the events on Pionirska Street were unfortunately not the only ones that befell the Bosniaks of Višegrad.
“It’s not just about the live pyre on June 14, ’92, which happened on the fourth day of Eid al-Adha, there was also the live pyre on June 27 and the live pyre on Bikavac, but there is no village in Višegrad where there is no live pyre and that’s why I say that Višegrad is a city of live pyres. It’s sad that for 33 years we’ve been asking the same question, where are the remains of our loved ones,” said Hasečić.
In the “live pyres”, in houses on Pionirska Street, on June 14, and a few days later, on June 27, 1992, in the house of Meho Aljić on Bikavac, more than 140 women, children and the elderly were burned alive.
For the crime on Pionirska Street, Milan Lukić was sentenced to life imprisonment and Sredoje Lukić to 27 years in prison by a final verdict at the ICTY. Mitar Vasiljević was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In June 2018, Radomir Šušnjar was extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in 2021 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Fena news agency writes.
