A young researcher from Belgrade promotes the truth about the Kapija massacre: without taking responsibility, the region cannot heal

Branimir Đurović is a young researcher at the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Belgrade, and today he was in Tuzla to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Kapija massacre. He spoke about the importance of spreading the truth, and he also sent very important messages to the regional public.

Three decades have passed since the Kapija massacre in Tuzla, and the authorities in Serbia still refuse to acknowledge the reality of the investigation into this crime. This country is also a haven for a convicted war criminal, but a group of young people from Belgrade is loudly spreading the truth about the suffering of the youth in the City of Tuzla.

At exactly 20.55, on 25 May 1995, a grenade was fired from the aggressor positions on Mount Ozren, killing 71 people and wounding more than 200 at the youth gathering in Tuzla.

Novak Đukić, an officer in the RS army, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the worst crime against civilians in Tuzla. He was found guilty of ordering an artillery platoon, as commander of the VRS Ozren Tactical Group, to shell Tuzla with cannons on 25 May 1995.

He was sentenced to this prison term in June 2014, and after leaving BiH, he became inaccessible to our country’s judicial institutions. He has found refuge in Belgrade, but neighbouring Serbia is not sending him to serve his sentence.

The authorities in Serbia refuse to acknowledge the factual state of the investigation into this crime, and the attempts made so far to reconstruct the events are completely irrelevant, which has dealt a further blow to the families of the victims of the massacre, as well as to those who were injured in the crime.

However, a group of young people from Belgrade is loudly spreading the truth about the suffering of the youth in the City of Tuzla, and it is they who have arrived in Tuzla today to remember the murdered youth. They have also taken the opportunity to send extremely important messages.

“We know what happened at Kapija and we are trying to preserve the memory of this horrific crime. Unfortunately, it is not spoken about in Serbia. Neither is Novak Đukić, who fled to Serbia and is unfortunately still at large,” Branimir Đurović, a researcher at the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Belgrade, told us.

He says that every year, members of the initiative try to show young people what happened in Kapija by making a study visit to Tuzla.

“A crime is a crime, no matter which side commits it and who commits it. We are trying to commemorate the crime at Bradina before the anniversary of the crime at Tuzla Gate. We are simply pointing out that nationality does not matter,” Đurović stresses.

He believes that spreading the truth is extremely important, especially for the coming generations. He stresses that the region is unfortunately not on the road to recovery and that this will not happen until responsibility for what has been done is accepted.

“This has been shown many times and in the end, when we look at how the authorities in Serbia deal with crime, they tell us a lot. It is a state policy of denial of crimes and denial of responsibility. The very fact that Đukić is free in Serbia, and he is not the only one who has managed to evade justice, shows us that there is no progress,” Đurović concludes.

Let us remind you that today, the people of Tuzla, as well as the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, are in tears as they remember the innocent lives of 71 young people who were killed exactly 30 years ago./Klix.ba/