Numerous delegations, representatives of veterans’ organizations, families of the dead and citizens gathered to pay tribute to all those who participated in the defense of the city in 1992, when members of the Tuzla Public Safety Station managed to defend the city from attack and preserve its multi-ethnic character.
The mayor of Tuzla, Zijad Lugavić, said that the truth about the events of May 15 was also confirmed through court verdicts, stressing that there is only one truth about the defense of the city.
“On that day, the Tuzla way of life, multi-ethics, anti-fascism, common life and wealth of diversity were defended. It was done in an honorable and dignified way. It was a civil defense of the democratic values of a society,” said Lugavić.
Recalling the events of May 1992, it was pointed out that members of the paramilitary forces of the then Republika Srpska, established a few days earlier in Banja Luka and placed under the command of Ratko Mladić, together with members of the then Yugoslav Army, were withdrawing from the “Husinska Buna” barracks. During the exit of the column from the city, there was a conflict in Brčanska Malta.
The then commander of the Second Maneuver Unit of the Tuzla Public Safety Station, Niko Jurić, said that on May 15, 1992, “good won” in Brčanska Malta.
“We guarded the bare lives and property of the citizens of Tuzla. That is the only truth that everyone must accept if they want to live and sleep peacefully,” said Jurić, adding that he believes that Mile Dubajić, the commander of the military forces, was most responsible for the events at that time.
The War Chief of Tuzla, Selim Bešlagić, pointed out that the truth about Brčanska Malta was also confirmed through international legal processes, stating that INTERPOL, as he says, put an end to attempts to present the event in a different way.
“They are constantly trying to plant the story that Tuzla was a camp. I invite them to come with arguments and prove it. I am telling the families of the dead that I am ready to organize a meeting if they want to talk with us, not with the current politicians,” said Bešlagić.
According to the information of the “Truth, Justice, Reconciliation” Foundation, three members of the Tuzla Public Security Station and 33 soldiers from the column were killed in the conflict in Brčanska Malta.
The commemoration of the Tuzla Defense Day ended with messages of peace, unity and preserving the memory of all war victims, with the emphasis that historical facts must be protected from revisionism and politicization.
(Vijesti.ba)
