The crime against JNA members in Tuzla, who were peacefully withdrawing from the city in a convoy in accordance with a prior agreement, was premeditated and conceived by Muslim paramilitary and political structures that decided to send another message to Serbs through bloodshed — that there was no right to life or agreement for them in BiH, only persecution and killing, stated SNSD president Milorad Dodik.
Marking the 34th anniversary of the suffering of JNA members in Tuzla on May 15, 1992, Dodik told Srna that on that day not only were soldiers killed, but also the very idea of agreement, trust, and dialogue.
- Young men who believed they were leaving the city according to an agreement were cowardly met from an ambush with bullets, fire, and brutal hatred. Images of burning vehicles and soldiers’ bodies that circled the world remain permanent evidence of a planned crime that, even after more than three decades, has not received the justice deserved by innocent victims and their families – Dodik said.
He emphasized that it is especially painful that the perpetrators, known to everyone, including the judiciary of BiH, continue to walk free, while Serb victims are systematically ignored, which, according to him, reflects the deep injustice rooted in BiH since the beginning of the 1990s.
- BiH is a country in which Serb victims are considered irrelevant, and Serb suffering an undesirable topic, where black mourning scarves carry no weight, nor the tears of a Serb mother. The current judiciary obviously does not recognize Serb victims, but it will prosecute any Serb who raises three fingers or congratulates the birthday of the first president of Republika Srpska and the commander of the Serb army. Once again, this confirms that where logic ends, BiH begins — a country of absurdities – Dodik stated.
Despite everything, Dodik said Republika Srpska, its people, and institutions will never allow the “Tuzla Column” to be forgotten, nor accept what he described as attempts to rewrite and falsify history, referring to how some Bosniak representatives commemorate the event as the so-called “Day of Tuzla’s Defense.”
- This shows who openly advocated war in BiH, who shot the Serb wedding guest in Baščaršija, attacked the JNA convoy in Dobrovoljačka Street, committed the massacre in Sijekovac… These are painful examples and evidence of the irrational vision of certain Muslim politicians and their idea of BiH as a Muslim state in which the other two constituent peoples, Serbs and Croats, would have no right to live – Dodik stressed.
He stated that there is an obligation to preserve the memory of the killed soldiers and teach future generations what happened when hatred and Muslim extremism replaced reason and agreement.
- Therefore, we will always remember with dignity and pride that innocent people and innocent youth were killed in Tuzla simply because they were members of the JNA and because they were Serbs. The brutal crime in Tuzla is not only a historical fact, but a deep wound that still hurts the families of those who lost their loved ones that day, as well as all of us, because on May 15 youth was stopped in trucks that were supposed to take them home, toward a more peaceful tomorrow. Instead of the embrace of mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, they were met with gunfire and shelling, while instead of an agreed peaceful withdrawal, only the smell of gunpowder, fire, and ashes remained, along with a loud silence that still echoes through Brčanska Malta – Dodik said.
According to official data, Muslim units in Tuzla attacked the JNA convoy on May 15, 1992, killing 54 soldiers and wounding 78, violating the agreement under which the convoy was supposed to leave the city peacefully as part of the broader withdrawal of JNA units from BiH. Of the 44 captured soldiers, five were later killed, while the others were abused and tortured.
Source: Glas Srpske
