Sunday will be the 14th anniversary of the kidnapping and killing of 16 Serbian citizens from Sjeverin. The dead people are still not properly buried, the killers have still not been tried, and Serbia has still not acknowledged its crime. On October 22, 1992, members of the ‘Avengers’ Serbian paramilitary unit forcibly took 15 men and one woman from a bus on the Pljevlja-Priboj route while it was crossing through the territory of Republika Srpska at Mioce. They then led them away to Visegrad, where they psychologically and physically mistreated them, before murdering them on the bank of the Drina. These Serbian citizens were killed only because they were Muslim.
Those murdered were Mehmed Sebo, Zafer Hadzic, Medo Hadzic, Medredin Hodzic, Ramiz Begovic, Dervis Softic, Medhad Softic, Mujo Alihodzic, Alija Mandal, Sead Pecikoza, Mustafa Bajramovic, Hajrudin Sajtarevic, Esad Dzahic, Ramahudin Djatovic, Ediz Gibovic, and the one woman among them, Melvide Koldzic.
On May 18, 2006, The Serbian Supreme Court confirmed in a preliminary judgment that four people from the ‘Avengers’ committed this war crime. Dragutin Dragicevic was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Djordje Sevic was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Milan Lukic, who has recently been extradited from Argentina by The Hague Tribunal, and Oliver Krsmanovic, who is at-large, were sentenced in absentia to 20 years in jail.
Women in Black believes that this should not be preliminary and that the Supreme Court need to acknowledge that it sentenced members of the army of Republika Srpska, which was financed, organized, and supported by the former Yugoslav Army. The courts covered up the responsibility of the state even though this responsibility was made clear during the trial. Women in Black notes that this government, as well as the previous government, still shelter the High Commander of the RS Army, the criminal Ratko Mladic, among us.
In the name of the murdered people from Sjeverin and their families, in the name of justice, in the name of the dignity of the victims, we look for Serbia to arrest the perpetrators, their commanders, and those who gave orders, so Serbian citizens will not be held captive by the crimes in Sjeverin or any other crimes.
Belgrade, October 21, 2006
Women in Black
