Serbs provoke Bosniaks on Orthodox Christmas in Bosnia

By Vesna Besıc, Kayhan Gül and Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Serb groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina engaged in provocative actions Tuesday against Bosniaks during the celebration of Orthodox Christmas.

Ultranationalist Serb groups celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Visegrad, Bratunac, and Srebrenica, where massacres and genocide took place during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, insulted victims of the genocide and shouted slogans in favor of Serbs who committed war crimes.

Ravna Gora Movement, a non-governmental organization defending the Chetniks who carried out massacres against Bosniaks, organized a vehicle convoy in Visegrad and used the religious holiday as a means of provocation for Bosniaks, a local source told Anadolu Agency.

Similar provocations took place in Srebrenica where more than 8,000 Bosniaks were murdered in 1995.

The provocations of ultranationalist Serb groups denying the Srebrenica genocide sparked reaction from Bosniaks.

One of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska (RS) Bosniak Vice President Ramiz Salkic said the events are a direct threat to the security of Bosniaks in the region.

Bakira Hasecic, the president of the Women Victims of War Association, who defends the rights of women raped in the war, condemned the actions during a religious holiday and urged the adoption of a law against those who deny the genocide, praise war criminals and spread religious and ethnic-based hatred.

"No normal man would do what they do. The most painful thing is that all of them were children during the war," said Hasecic.

Pieces of slaughtered pigs were also thrown to the Potocari Memorial Cemetery in 2019, where victims of the Srebrenica genocide are buried.

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