GRAORAC: FIGHTING AGAINST MACHINE LIKE MEMORIAL CENTER IS A HUGE TASK

BANJA LUKA, JULY 10 /SRNA/ – It is a huge task to fight against a machine like the Memorial Center in Potočari so that the truth about the suffering of Serbs in Podrinje reaches the entire world, but it will happen sooner or later, said Isidora Graorac, President of the Republika Srpska Organization of Families of Captured, Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians.

Graorac told SRNA that preparations for commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Bosniaks' suffering in July 1995 are focused on attacking and condemning the Serb people rather than remembering the victims, as has been the case for years. "Starting from belittling Serb victims, whose souls we prayed for on July 5, and for whom we did not hear a single word of compassion from the Bosniak community, but instead heard comments on posted photos of murdered children, women, and the elderly, claiming they were fake, that these were photos of dead soldiers, along with other inappropriate lies," Graorac reminded. She noted that yet another "report on genocide denial" has been published, triumphantly released by the Memorial Center in Potočari as an introduction to the anniversary. Since the publication of that report, she said, it has included the name of Branimir Kojić, President of the Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica, whom some authors have seriously targeted, claiming that his "goal is not to face crimes but selective manipulation of victims to deny the legally established genocide". "Did they mention anywhere that he presented false data, information, or similar? No, the intention is to intimidate him, to prevent him from speaking publicly, but they will not succeed. They have not refuted anything because he did not use superficial but verified information," Graorac assessed. She stated that the report also included the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, Speaker of the National Assembly Nenad Stevandić, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and for the first time, the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabić and Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković. "There is no freedom of thought and speech in BiH, and people like Kojić must have support and protection from all of us, especially the institutions of Republika Srpska, because to speak about the suffering of Serbs and to fight for the truth about Serb suffering in Podrinje to come to light is a huge task, especially when you are up against a machine like the Potočari Memorial Center," Graorac emphasized. She noted that the other side, 30 years later, adheres to the verdicts of the Hague Tribunal, which did everything to convict Serbs for what they were guilty of – and for what they were not. She pointed out that tomorrow foreign diplomats in Potočari will express reverence for Bosniak victims, deliberately and consciously forgetting Serb victims, while not even domestic politicians in BiH have voiced respect or understanding. For the victims' families, Graorac stressed, it is important that the truth is known, which will eventually reach the ears and eyes of the entire world. "Until then, we will defend the memory of our victims and stand by our modern-day `fighters,` such as Kojić, who fight for the truth with words and evidence," Graorac said. Tomorrow, the Memorial Center in Potočari will mark 30 years since the suffering of Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995.