Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, has once again raised his voice about the suffering of Serbs in the villages of Srebrenica and Bratunac, emphasizing that these places are not just crime scenes but open wounds that still hurt today. Speaking about the brutal massacre of Serbs on Petrovdan (St. Peter’s Day) in 1992, Dodik stressed that this is not about numbers but about people with names and surnames – children, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers who were tortured, burned, and killed simply because they were Serbs. Even after 33 years, Dodik claims that Serbs remain targets of oblivion and silence by judicial authorities. He recalled that in just a few hours, 69 Serbs were brutally killed, 22 went missing, and ten were found and exhumed from a mass grave in Zalazje. Dodik sharply criticized the judicial institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community for failing to prosecute these crimes, stating that crimes against Serbs are often ignored or denied. He emphasized that the pain of every mother is the same, regardless of the victim’s nationality, and that justice must be equal for all. Dodik declared that Republika Srpska’s institutions will continue to nurture a culture of remembrance and truth about Serbian victims, with a clear message that forgetting is not an option. He particularly highlighted the villages of Zalazje, Sase, Biljača, and Zagoni as places that are not forgotten and that oblige remembrance and the pursuit of justice. Dodik called for the preservation of Republika Srpska and its institutions, warning of ongoing attempts to seize property, graves, and everything belonging to the Serbian people. “As long as one Serbian child knows about these places and the truth about them, the truth lives,” Dodik said, urging continuous remembrance and speaking out about the suffering of Serbs. This statement comes in the context of commemorating the massacre anniversary and reminding of the injustice that has lasted for decades.
