71 victims of 1995 massacre remembered in Tuzla, Bosnia

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – A ceremony was held in the Tuzla city of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday to honor the 71 victims of the 1995 massacre.

The relatives of the victims and politicians participated in the ceremony to mark the 27th anniversary of the May 25, 1995 massacre, also known as the Kapija massacre.

Dozens of people laid wreaths and prayed at the monument built in memory of those who lost their lives.

“Memories never fade. I remember very well the last time I saw her. I also remember the last time we looked at each other,” said Arif Ahmetasevic, who lost his daughter in the massacre.

Vahida Rekic, another participant in the ceremony, said that she was devastated when she heard the news of her son Nedim’s death.

“I have a daughter who survived. My husband could not bear the pain of our son and passed away a few years after the incident. My daughter has children. Four years after my son was killed, my daughter had a son. He looks just like my son Nedim; tall, blue-eyed and noble. They keep me alive,” Rekic said.

In 1995, on the orders of Novak Djukic, then chief of the general staff of the Republika Srpska, the army launched an artillery attack on the city of Tuzla, killing 71 people and wounding 124.

In 2014, the Bosnian state court sentenced Djukic to 20 years in prison, but he did not turn up to serve the sentence. His lawyer said that he was undergoing medical treatment in Serbia.