We Should Know the Facts: Sjeverin, October 22, 1992

Eighteen years ago, on October 22, 1992, Muslims from Sjeverin were on their way to Priboj, taking care of their daily business, riding on a bus from Rudo to Priboj across the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, just like any other day.

In the Mioče village, members of the Serbian paramilitary formation Osvetnici, commanded by Milan Lukić, stopped the bus and, after checking the personal documents of each passenger, took all adult Muslims off of the bus – 15 men and one woman. These people were taken by a truck to the Vilina Vlas motel in Višegrad where they were physically abused. After that they were taken to the Drina river bank in Višegrad where they were executed.

The victims of this crime are: Mehmed Šebo, Zafer Hadžić, Medo Hadžić, Medredin Hodžić, Ramiz Begović, Derviš Softić, Medhad Softić, Mujo Alihodžić, Alija Mandal, Sead Pecikoza, Mustafa Bajramović, Hajrudin Sajtarević, Esad Džihić, Ramahudin Ćatović, Idriz Gibović, and Mevlida Koldžić, all from the village of Sjeverin.

The War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court tried in absentia and sentenced Milan Lukić and Oliver Krsmanović to 20 years in prison for the actions that took place on this day. Dragutin Dragićević and Đorđe Šević were sentenced to 15 years in prison each.

In 2009 the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced Milan Lukić to life in prison for the crimes committed in Višegrad.

The remains of the Muslims from Sjeverin have never been found.