Bosnia and Herzegovina On 22 July 1996, the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina created a veteran rights law that explicitly covered former Chetniks, but did not specify the Partisans.[215] During the Bosnian War, the main traffic road in Brčko was renamed the Boulevard of General Draža Mihailović and on 8 September 1997 a statue of Mihailović was established in the towns center.[216] In 2000, the street was renamed the Boulevard of Peace[217] and in 2004, after lobbying by Bosniak returnees and intervention from the Office of the High Representative, the statue was moved to an Orthodox cemetery located at the outskirts of Brčko.[218] It was removed on 20 October 2005 and on 18 August 2013 unveiled in Višegrad.[219] In May 1998, the Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement of Republika Srpska was founded and proclaimed itself the military branch of the SDS and the SRS. In April 1998, the key date in its recent history occurred when Šešelj had held a speech for a gathering in Brčko with representatives from the SDS, the SRS, the Serb National Alliance (SNS), the Assembly of Serb Sisters of Mother Jevrosima, the High Council of Chetnik Veterans of Republika Srpska, and the Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement of Serbia in attendance. In April 1999 it was legally registered and later renamed the Serb National Homeland Movement. Important individuals in its beginnings included: Karadžić, Mladić, Nikola Poplasen, Dragan Čavić, Mirko Banjac, Mirko Blagojević, Velibor Ostojić, Vojo Maksimović and Božidar Vučurević. It operates in fourteen regions where members work in trojkas and infiltrate various civilian organisations.[220] On 5 May 2001, it disrupted cornerstone laying ceremonies for the destroyed Omer Pasha Mosque in Trebinje[221] and on 7 May for the destroyed Ferhat Pasha Mosque in Banja Luka.[220] The international community and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe designated it a terrorist and pro-fascist organization.[220] In 2005, United States president George W. Bush issued an executive order and its US assets were, among other organizations, frozen for obstructing the Dayton Agreement.[222] On 12 July 2007, a day after the 12th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide and the burial of a further 465 victims, a group of men dressed in Chetnik uniforms marched the streets of Srebrenica. They all wore badges of military units which committed the massacre in July 1995.[223] On 11 July 2009, after the burial of 543 victims in Srebrenica, members of the Ravna Gora Chetnik movement desecrated the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina, marched in the streets wearing T-shirts with the face of Mladić and sang Chetnik songs.[224][225][226] A group of men and women associated with the Serbian far-right group Obraz chanted insults directed towards the victims and in support of the Chetnik movement, calling for eradication of Islam.[227] A full report of the incident was submitted to the local District Prosecutors Office but no one has been prosecuted.[228] The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been campaigning for a creation of a law that would ban the group within Bosnia.[229]
Posted on: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 19:47:45 +0000
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