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Pupils from the Fourth Elementary School in Mostar and a small number of city residents gathered for a ceremony in commemoration of the 17th anniversary of the bridge’s destruction. They dropped lilies into Neretva river , while a member of “Mostari” divers club dived into the cold river waters.
Participants said that it was “a shame” that, as in previous years, no official institutions supported the ceremony.
“I think the anniversary of the bridge’s destruction should be marked, so young generations know what happened and we avoid something like this happening ever again.
“The fact that the city does not mark the day is shameful. Why do they mark the reconstruction of the bridge only? It is time to publicly say who destroyed the bridge, because they keep blaming each other for it,” said Almira Lizde, one of the participants at the ceremony.
Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoje Petkovic, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic are on trial before the Hague Tribunal for the destruction of the Old Bridge on November 9, 1993.
The indictment against them alleges that “Herceg-Bosnia / Croatian Defence Council, HVO, forces deliberately destroyed or severely damaged” many religious buildings during the course of the siege of East Mostar and destroyed the Old Bridge, a structure of international importance, in November 1993.
City officials think that the reconstruction date should be marked, but not the destruction date.
Miroslav Landeka, Spokesperson of the City Administration, says that the destruction anniversary has not been marked since the reconstruction of the Old Bridge, because “the Bridge itself and the connection between the two banks, citizens, cultures and civilizations is affirmed” in this way.
“I think this is a fact. We all know what happened. Naturally, nobody has the right to forget the past. Nobody should forget it, but we can not live in the past for the sake of the future,” Landeka said.
The City Administration and the City Council were not able to confirm whether an official decision to not mark the anniversary of the Old Bridge destruction had been rendered.
Mustafa Alendar, Spokesperson of the City Council, explained: “The City Council has never passed a decision on the marking or non-marking of the anniversary. (…) I think the City Administration and City Council, as a unified city administration, assumed a solid stance not to mark the destruction anniversary, but only the reconstruction anniversary.”
S.G.
