VITEZ, April 15 (FENA) - The procession "Path of Truth and Remembrance" will mark the 26th anniversary of the killing of 116 Bosniak civilians in the village of Ahmići, near Vitez by the Croat Defense Council (HVO) members in 1993.
“We expect about 700 participants from the cities and towns in BiH, among them there will be people from Srebrenica. We want to have a dignified procession from Vitez to Ahmići, in order to remember all the victims, from the three-month-old Sejo to the 82-year-old old man,” told FENA a member of the Organizing Committee Mujo Trako, pointing out that some of the BiH athletes, including Amel Tuka will also join them.
In addition to the procession, a commemoration will also be held tomorrow, as well as a religious ceremony at a cemetery in the old town of Vitez, while the flowers will be laid with paying of respect at the memorial site in Ahmići.
The Association "April 16" once again warned that the remains of 29 victims have never been found and that not all those responsible for the crime have been prosecuted.
“When it comes to finding the victims’ remains there has been no progress in recent years. We are constantly sending appeals, but we do not have any information,” said a member of the Association Hazrudin Bilić.
The Croat Defense Council, HVO, which was backed by Croatia, attacked Ahmići on April 16, 1993.
The HVO forces killed 116 civilians in the attack, mostly women and children. The youngest victim was three months old and the oldest was 82.
Some people were buried alive in their houses, while the local mosque was destroyed.
The Hague Tribunal sentenced former HVO general Tihomir Blaškić to nine years in prison for war crimes including ordering the attack on Ahmići.
The Tribunal also convicted Dario Kordić, former leader of the self-proclaimed wartime statelet called the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna, of crimes including the killings in Ahmići.
Meanwhile the Bosnian state court also convicted HVO commander Paško Ljubičić of involvement in the Ahmići war crime.
(FENA) S. R.