19th Anniversary of the Crime in Sjeverin

PRIBOJ, October 22nd, 2011 – 19th anniversary of the war crime committed in Sjeverin, in which 16 Bosniak civilians, citizens of the Republic of Serbia were killed, was marked on Saturday, October 22nd. Victims’ families and friends laid flowers and paid respect to their closest family members and friends in the village of Mioče (BiH), where they were taken off the bus by members of the paramilitary formation “Osvetnici” (Avengers). Representatives of political parties, representatives of Bosniak cultural and religious institutions from Sandžak and several representatives of non-governmental organizations (including representatives of the Humanitarian Law Center) attended the commemoration.

A public debate called “Let’s not forget Sjeverin” was held in the Cultural Centre in Priboj and it was said during this discussion that judgments rendered by the District Court in Belgrade against members of the “Avengers” unit are positive, but that the ones who ordered the commission of the crime, as well as the ones who created such a criminal policy, should also be prosecuted. It was noted during this gathering that bodies of Sjeverin victims have not yet been found. Representatives of associations of victims’ family members highlighted that a monument marking this crime has not yet been elevated.

On October 22nd, 1992, sixteen people from Sjeverin (15 men and a woman) were taken off the bus, by which they were travelling to work that morning, by members of the Serb paramilitary formation the “Avengers” in the village of Mioče (BiH). They took them to Višegrad, to “Vilina vlas” Hotel, where they tortured them and subsequently killed them at the bank of the Drina River. The District Court in Belgrade sentenced Milan Lukić, Oliver Krsmanović (both tried in absentia) to 20 years of imprisonment, Dragutin Dragićević and Đorđe Šević to 15 years of imprisonment in July 2005. Milan Lukić was sentenced to life imprisonment by ICTY’s first instance judgment for crimes committed in Višegrad and Eastern Bosnia.