Herzegovina: 27th anniversary of the massacre of 39 Croats, prosecution being demanded

Prayers, lighting of candles and laying of flowers at the Stipić Meadow location in the northern part of Herzegovina on Tuesday marked 27 years since the massacre of 39 Croatian soldiers and civilians killed by members of the Bosniak Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina accompanied by expectations for prosecution of those responsible for these war crimes.

Retired General of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) Stanko Baja Sopta pointed out that the crime on Stipić Meadow near Doljani in Jablanica municipality took place at the same time as the Bosniak Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina committed mass attacks, persecutions and murders in Bugojno.

“Stipić Meadow happened and Bugojno and so many other places of crimes against Croats. Whether they will be prosecuted by the judicial authorities of this country is their problem, and by international courts. We know that they are our sanctity, our wound, pain and pride. And that we will never forget them,” said General Sopta in his address.

Numerous family members, relatives and friends of the victims, as well as representatives of associations originating from the last war, representatives of the authorities and member parties of the Croatian National Parliament (HNS) Bosnia and Herzegovina, gathered at the commemoration.

On the morning of July 28, 1993, a crime was committed at the Stipić Meadow site against 39 Croat soldiers and civilians who were killed and massacred by members of the Bosniak Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

All the surviving villagers, more than 200 of them, mostly women and children, were arrested and taken to Jablanica to a camp situated in a museum dedicated to the partisan battle for the wounded, where they were detained until March 1, 1994, when they were exchanged.

Source: HRT