Roma to Sue Serbia for ‘Tolerating’ War Crime
This post is also available in: Bosnian
They said that Serbia “tolerated a grave war crime by uniformed citizens by Serbia with arms given to them by the then JNA [Yugoslav People’s Army], Army of Republika Srpska and the Serbian MUP [interior ministry]”.
News agency Beta reported that they sent an open letter announcing the lawsuit to the Serbian president, prime minister and justice ministry, as well as to the OSCE and several other international organisations.
On June 25, Belgrade’s Appeals Court confirmed the acquittal of the six former members of the Sima’s Chetniks paramilitary unit, clearing them of killing 27 Roma civilians in the village of Skocic in Bosnia in July 1992.
However, three of the former paramilitaries – Zoran Alic, Zoran Djurdjevic and Tomislav Gavric – were convicted of inhumane treatment, violation of physical integrity, sexual humiliation and rape.
In the open letter, the National Council of Roma and the Roma Centre for Strategy, Development and Democracy said that the verdict was “scandalous and has humiliated all Roma, especially those who survived the massacre and came to testify”.
They added that the verdict will have a significant influence on Roma people’s attitude towards the state and increase tensions and distance between Serbs and Roma.
