RS ordered to pay for damage to mosques

B92: please check your facts and get them right.

The judgement awarding compensation to the Islamic Community for the 1993 destruction of 14 mosques in Banja Luka was issued by the Court of first instance (Osnovni sud) in Banja Luka.

This was a judgement by the Republika Srpska judiciary (NOT by a "Sarajevo court" as B92's report stated). That fact in itself makes this ruling a notable first. The Banja Luka Court is to be commended for its bold and courageous decision, which puts the interests of justice first - rather than bowing to the political demands and reflexes of the ruling elite.

The 3 comments above (although there may be more by the time this is posted) go to show the lack of remorse that my Serb brothers have for what was done in Bosnia in their name. There were incidents at Orthodox and Catholic churches, however, this is a small amount compared to the systematic destruction of mosques that happened during the Bosnian war. All Mosques in Banja Lika city were completely destroyed. Compare that with Sarajevo. Aren't the Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals still there?

Let all people who suffered injustice bring their cases. But please don't try to imply that it was equal on both sides. In the name of Serbs systematic (not revenge) destruction of mosques occurred in Serb-controlled Bosnia during the war.

Let all people who suffered injustice bring their cases. But please don't try to imply that it was equal on both sides. In the name of Serbs systematic (not revenge) destruction of mosques occurred in Serb-controlled Bosnia during the war.
(Slavko, 22 February 2009 08:02)

Tell me how many Serbs remain in Sarajevo after the Dayton Agreement other than declared Yugoslavs?

Tell me how Serbs were forced to leave Serbian enclaves in Sarajevo after the Dayton Agreement?

On the subject of war criminals, why isn't Siladjic, Socirbey who were responsible for the murder of JNA officers in B&H after the exchange of JNA officers for Izetbegovic?

You speak of equality of justice, just where is it?

All we hear is about Srebrenica, what we don't hear is about the ethnic murder and cleansing of Serbs in Sarajevo and Mostar where virtually none remain.

and so are the bosniaks and croats going to pay for the Orthodox churches blown up, so there will be a counter suit then against them.

So let's see how much Albanian Kosovans have to pay for the hundreds of desecrated 'priceless' centuries old monasteries!! We're talking into the billions of Euros if 16 fairly new mosques are 33mn. Not so much a viable state now!!

Have the muslims ever thought of paying for any Christian churches which they have destroyed?

konstantin
Thanks for bringing up the subject. I spoke only about the issue of destruction of mosques because that was the article.

However, on the subject of Serbs in Sarajevo-you should know that there has been much distortion of the truth particularly from the Republika Srpska Pale government during the war and those outside who supported them.

From the beginning of the war it was the aim of that goverment to create ethnic separation. This was their ideology.

On 10 December 1992 Karadzic spoke on radio saying he wanted to evacuate Serbs from Sarajevo and sent a letter to that effect to the organisors of the Geneva Convention on the former Yugoslavia.

Another Bosnian Serb leader Nikola Koljevic said that Bosnian Serb forces will evacuate all civilians themselves if there is no other way to remove them. Yes Serbs ethnically cleansed their brother Serbs, sometimes forcibly from Sarajevo. It was a matter of policy.

As documented by Michael A. Sells in his book "A bridge betrayed" - Serbs living in Sarajevo were persecuted by serb forces for wanting to stay. He says, "Serbs who refused to participate in the persecution of Muslims were killed. In a Serb-army occupied area of Sarajevo, Serb militants killed a Serb officer who objected to atrocities against civilians; they left his body on the street for over a week as an object lesson. During one of the 'selections' carried out by Serb militants in Sarajevo, an old Serb named Ljubo objected to being separated out from his Muslim friends and neighbors; they beat him to death on the spot."

In 2005 the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Pero Bukejlovic claimed there had been a massacre of Serbs in Sarajevo greater than that of Srebrenica.

These days the people of Sarajevo take claims like that as an insult. The president of the Serb Citizens Council, Dr. Mirko Pejanovic (a wartime member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, and the Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo), stated:

"Nobody, not even Bukejlovic, can change or cover up the truth for the sake of current political needs. In Sarajevo, during the four year siege carried out by Karadzic's military forces and the SDS, there were deaths of Sarajevans of all ethnicities. The people were both suffering and dying from hunger, cold, they were being killed by mortar shells... among the 12,000 killed Sarayevians recorded in the war, at least one fourth were members of the Serb nation or had Serb ethnic ancestry. Thus, we can not talk of an extermination or genocide of Serbs, but of a responsibility of the SDS and Karadzic's military forces for the overall extermination of Sarajevo and Sarayevians, and within that of the Serb people."

Slavko, where is the remorse from the Croats, Bosnian Muslims and K-Albanians?
Are you going to ask them where their remorse is or are you only interested in Serbian remorse?

Sarajevo was practically cleansed of Serbs and you have nothing to say about that?
What about hundreds of Churches and monasteries in Kosovo? Who is going to pay for that?
At least the Serbs are willing to compensate. Isn't this remorse?
How dare you come here and talk about remorse which is shown by the Serbs in this act but don't even mention the others?

Jovan R.

I agree that the decision has shown bravery and lets hope it is a sign of more courageous moves from our politicians.

Let all people who suffered injustice bring their cases. But please don't try to imply that it was equal on both sides. In the name of Serbs systematic (not revenge) destruction of mosques occurred in Serb-controlled Bosnia during the war.
(Slavko, 22 February 2009 08:02)

Tell me how many Serbs remain in Sarajevo after the Dayton Agreement other than declared Yugoslavs?

Tell me how Serbs were forced to leave Serbian enclaves in Sarajevo after the Dayton Agreement?

On the subject of war criminals, why isn't Siladjic, Socirbey who were responsible for the murder of JNA officers in B&H after the exchange of JNA officers for Izetbegovic?

You speak of equality of justice, just where is it?

All we hear is about Srebrenica, what we don't hear is about the ethnic murder and cleansing of Serbs in Sarajevo and Mostar where virtually none remain.

and so are the bosniaks and croats going to pay for the Orthodox churches blown up, so there will be a counter suit then against them.

So let's see how much Albanian Kosovans have to pay for the hundreds of desecrated 'priceless' centuries old monasteries!! We're talking into the billions of Euros if 16 fairly new mosques are 33mn. Not so much a viable state now!!

Have the muslims ever thought of paying for any Christian churches which they have destroyed?

The 3 comments above (although there may be more by the time this is posted) go to show the lack of remorse that my Serb brothers have for what was done in Bosnia in their name. There were incidents at Orthodox and Catholic churches, however, this is a small amount compared to the systematic destruction of mosques that happened during the Bosnian war. All Mosques in Banja Lika city were completely destroyed. Compare that with Sarajevo. Aren't the Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals still there?

Let all people who suffered injustice bring their cases. But please don't try to imply that it was equal on both sides. In the name of Serbs systematic (not revenge) destruction of mosques occurred in Serb-controlled Bosnia during the war.

B92: please check your facts and get them right.

The judgement awarding compensation to the Islamic Community for the 1993 destruction of 14 mosques in Banja Luka was issued by the Court of first instance (Osnovni sud) in Banja Luka.

This was a judgement by the Republika Srpska judiciary (NOT by a "Sarajevo court" as B92's report stated). That fact in itself makes this ruling a notable first. The Banja Luka Court is to be commended for its bold and courageous decision, which puts the interests of justice first - rather than bowing to the political demands and reflexes of the ruling elite.

Slavko, where is the remorse from the Croats, Bosnian Muslims and K-Albanians?
Are you going to ask them where their remorse is or are you only interested in Serbian remorse?

Sarajevo was practically cleansed of Serbs and you have nothing to say about that?
What about hundreds of Churches and monasteries in Kosovo? Who is going to pay for that?
At least the Serbs are willing to compensate. Isn't this remorse?
How dare you come here and talk about remorse which is shown by the Serbs in this act but don't even mention the others?

konstantin
Thanks for bringing up the subject. I spoke only about the issue of destruction of mosques because that was the article.

However, on the subject of Serbs in Sarajevo-you should know that there has been much distortion of the truth particularly from the Republika Srpska Pale government during the war and those outside who supported them.

From the beginning of the war it was the aim of that goverment to create ethnic separation. This was their ideology.

On 10 December 1992 Karadzic spoke on radio saying he wanted to evacuate Serbs from Sarajevo and sent a letter to that effect to the organisors of the Geneva Convention on the former Yugoslavia.

Another Bosnian Serb leader Nikola Koljevic said that Bosnian Serb forces will evacuate all civilians themselves if there is no other way to remove them. Yes Serbs ethnically cleansed their brother Serbs, sometimes forcibly from Sarajevo. It was a matter of policy.

As documented by Michael A. Sells in his book "A bridge betrayed" - Serbs living in Sarajevo were persecuted by serb forces for wanting to stay. He says, "Serbs who refused to participate in the persecution of Muslims were killed. In a Serb-army occupied area of Sarajevo, Serb militants killed a Serb officer who objected to atrocities against civilians; they left his body on the street for over a week as an object lesson. During one of the 'selections' carried out by Serb militants in Sarajevo, an old Serb named Ljubo objected to being separated out from his Muslim friends and neighbors; they beat him to death on the spot."

In 2005 the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Pero Bukejlovic claimed there had been a massacre of Serbs in Sarajevo greater than that of Srebrenica.

These days the people of Sarajevo take claims like that as an insult. The president of the Serb Citizens Council, Dr. Mirko Pejanovic (a wartime member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency, and the Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo), stated:

"Nobody, not even Bukejlovic, can change or cover up the truth for the sake of current political needs. In Sarajevo, during the four year siege carried out by Karadzic's military forces and the SDS, there were deaths of Sarajevans of all ethnicities. The people were both suffering and dying from hunger, cold, they were being killed by mortar shells... among the 12,000 killed Sarayevians recorded in the war, at least one fourth were members of the Serb nation or had Serb ethnic ancestry. Thus, we can not talk of an extermination or genocide of Serbs, but of a responsibility of the SDS and Karadzic's military forces for the overall extermination of Sarajevo and Sarayevians, and within that of the Serb people."

Jovan R.

I agree that the decision has shown bravery and lets hope it is a sign of more courageous moves from our politicians.