In the full multimedia hall of the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo last night, the promotion of the book "Blackness near Sarajevo - Crimes and victims of Ahatović and its surroundings throughout history" was held, by Elvira Jahić, one of the residents of Ahatović who survived the massacre in the so-called to the "death bus", on June 14, 1992, in the town of Sokolina, less than 30 kilometers from Sarajevo, where one of the biggest crimes against Muslim Bosniaks committed by the Serbian army took place. In that massacre, 48 of Elvir's neighbors were killed.
Many of Elvir's friends, neighbors, relatives, as well as representatives of institutions and veterans' associations came to the promotion of the first book of this extremely brave man, a fighter for truth and justice, to support him and congratulate him on his courage and sacrifice in his three-decade-long struggle. , that the perpetrators of this brutal crime finally come to justice and answer for the crimes committed.
Working on this extremely valuable document, Elvir relived everything through his memories of June 14 and other events from the war period, but he did not give up for a moment, on the contrary, he persevered in his plan and with the help of his friends managed to finish this historical work, which will testify and tell future generations about the crimes against Bosniaks committed by their Serb neighbors.
The promoters of the book were dr. sc. Zilha Mastalić Košuta, Avdo Huseinović and Semir Spahić, and the host was Alija Gluhović Brkanić.
Testimony and historical, memoir document from the recent history of Bosnia and Herzegovina
dr. Zilha Mastalić Košuta, senior research associate at the Institute for Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law of the University of Sarajevo and one of the reviewers of the book, in her presentation, said that this is a book that represents a testimony and a historical and memoir document, from the recent war of the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this autobiographical work, the author described a personal, very poignant testimony about the suffering, suffering and survival of the inhabitants of the Sarajevo settlements of Dobroševići, Ahatovići and Bojnik during the 92-95 aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. year.
"After the JNA forces, organized by the 4th Corps command, occupied and consolidated positions on the lines in and around Sarajevo in June 1992, those forces, which were transformed into the Sarajevo-Romania Corps of the RS Army, also occupied the area of Ahatovic, Bojnik and Dobrošević and committed crimes against humanity, crimes against the civilian population and prisoners of war in that area. Part of the Bosniak population and part of members of TO Ahatovići were first imprisoned in the Mali - Hangar camp in Rajlovac. The author of the book, Elvir, was then a 19-year-old young man who was also imprisoned in the camp, where the conditions were very difficult and where they survived extremely severe torture. Among the soldiers of the Sarajevo-Romania Corps of the VRS were his neighbors of Serbian nationality. Jahić was one of 56 people who were allegedly taken to the exchange and put on a bus, and then taken to the inaccessible place of Sokolin near Srednje, where they were massacred with different types of weapons in that bus. Elvir is one of the eight survivors of that heinous crime. He remained alive, but with a serious injury to his spine," said Dr. Mastalić Košuta.
The book brings extremely painful and poignant detailed confessions of the author about the tragedy he survived. Complete parts of Elvir's diary, which he kept in that period of May and June 1992, are shown, so the reader can clearly get a picture of those events.
The fight for justice and a decent punishment for the perpetrators of crimes
"An important segment is also his fight for justice and a worthy punishment for the perpetrators of this serious crime, as a witness he was in The Hague and in Sarajevo in the cases against the perpetrators of the crime. It can be said that he was reliving the same struggle and old wounds were reopened. However, what I would like to emphasize is that his courage, perseverance and fight for the truth should serve as a motive and a guide for numerous other victims, to testify before the courts and to write down everything they saw and experienced, to be a legacy to current and future generations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. leave the truth about the period of aggression in BiH. "An important segment of the book is data on other events related to the area that was historically called Crnotina in the earlier period and included 13 villages at that time, among which Ahatovići, Bojnik and Dobroševići," emphasized Dr. Mastalić Košuta.
For the fourth decade since the crime in Sokolina, no one has been held accountable
Expressing his satisfaction that he is one of the promoters and reviewers of Elvir Jahić's first book, Avdo Huseinović said that Elvir is one of the rare authors - researchers, contemporaries, and witnesses to crimes. Huseinović points out that Elvir's research approach is fascinating. "In addition to the period of aggression in BiH from 1992 to 1995, he also based himself on the Ottoman period, on the period of Austro-Hungarian rule, and the period of the Kingdom of Bosnia and Herzegovina is particularly important, with which the author deals in detail with the agrarian reform, deals with the economic genocide against Bosniaks. , when the incredible looting of Bosniak land was carried out. We have entered the fourth decade since the crimes against Bosniaks by Bojnik, Dobrošević and Ahatović in June 1992, and we still do not have a judicial epilogue in sight, and that is, of course, what haunts the families of the victims the most, but all the rest of us will not calm down because of that. incredible and inexplicable phenomena. Although there is no indictment or court verdict, the planners and perpetrators of the genocide will probably say in the decades to come that there was no crime," said Huseinović and added:
"This case of a great unpunished crime is something that we have to point out and protest again and again. And now we have some strange winds in the judicial institutions, strange circumstances, we have an inexplicable approach to crimes against Bosniaks. Elvir Jahić is one of the most important witnesses before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, and he will be an important contribution to the history of mankind. The Hague verdicts are indisputable. For the crime of Ahatović, we have the case of the warden of the camp from Rajlovac and numerous executors who have already found their refuge in aggressor Serbia since 1996. No matter how the court story of the crime ends, that June of 1992 will never pass," Huseinović concluded.
Witnessing a heinous crime
The graphic editor of the book, Semir Spahić, said that in his many years of work, he prepared about 30 books, as an author, co-author, reviewer, etc. but that Elvira Jahić's book was one of the most difficult for him, from an emotional aspect.
"Elvir Jahić created a book that is both a document, a testimony and everything that a book can be. I have known Elvira Jahić for a long time, because as a journalist I followed the commemoration of the anniversary of the massacre in Sokolina every year, after which we started working on his book, which brought us closer and we became close friends. The fact that there are dozens of photos and scanned documents in this book shows that Elvir did deep research to create the book. Writing a book like this is a difficult job, this is a heavy emotional charge that kills a person, especially due to the fact that Elvir survived the massacre. That all tells us how brave Elvir is and that he managed to finish the book," said Spahić.
At the very end of the promotion, the author himself, Elvir Jahić, addressed the audience, who first of all thanked everyone who came to the promotion and showed his respect, and also supported those who financially and otherwise helped this historically important work to come out of print and comes into the hands of the reader.
First of all, he thanked his wife Suada, who encourages him throughout his life and helps him persevere in his fight for justice and punishment of the criminals who in one day destroyed his youth and the youth of dozens of boys and girls from the settlements of Dobroševići, Ahatovići and Bojnik.
Elvir also said that the book is not of a commercial nature and will not be sold, it will be distributed to families of martyrs and civilian victims of war, schools, libraries, archives, as well as to all benevolent persons who express a desire, until the printed copies expire.
The sponsors of the printing of the book "Blackness near Sarajevo - Crimes and victims of Ahatović and its surroundings throughout history" were the KS Memorial Fund Public Institution, the Municipality of Novi Grad Sarajevo, as well as the Municipality of Ilijaš and the Association RVI Novi Grad Sarajevo.
Elvira's soul will forever be scarred, as well as those from being wounded, a painful memory for people who were on average between 20 and 30 years old. It was the youth of a settlement, and all of them were sentenced to death.