Anniversaries of Prijedor Crimes Marked

Pero Cicic, member of the “hrvatski dom” (“Croatian Home”) association from Prijedor, says that several hundred people attended the marking of the murder of 75 local residents of Brisevo committed on July 25, 1992.

“The killed persons were householders, who were at their homes. They were neither soldiers nor politicians. Nobody has been tried for those murders or named as the perpetrator as yet,” Cicic said.

Vera Mlinar, an eyewitness to the crime, recalls the day when the Serbian Army entered Brisevo village 19 years ago.  

“They set out church on fire. Soldiers then came and forced us to leave our homes. They killed whomever they wanted… Some soldier came and started yelling at the Army members. After that they let us go. We then ran away to the woods,” Vera Mlinar said.

Radovan Karadzic, former supreme Commander of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, is on trial before The HagueTribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war. Among other things, the indictment charges him with the murder of at least 68 people in Brisevo village.

On Sunday, July 24, 2011 the 19thanniversary of the murder of Bosniaks and Croats was marked within the complex of the former “Keraterm” company, near Prijedor, which served as a detention camp where several thousands of non-Serb men were held during the war.

Edin Ramulic of the “Izvor” Association from Prijedor said that about 300 detainees were killed in Keraterm detention camp, where about three thousand detainees were held at some point.

“The most massive massacre that was committed in ‘Keraterm’ happened in room number 3 on the night of July 24/25, 1992, when between 160 and 200 people were killed. They started shooting in the early evening and continued until late that night. The bodies were removed on the following day only. Another group of people was taken from that room later on. They were killed in the vicinity of Sanski most,” Ramulic said.

A.J.