“Sveti Sava” /Saint Sava/ Elementary School in East Novo Sarajevo will mark March 11, the Day of Remembrance for the Suffered Children of Serb Sarajevo, with special emphasis on its students Nataša Učur and Milica Lalović who are symbols of the suffering 123 children in the Sarajevo-Romanija region.
Nataša and Milica were killed during a ceasefire on March 11, 1995 in Sarajevo’s settlement Grbavica, which was then under control of the Serb. That day, a sniper from “Loris” building in the Muslim part of the city killed the two young lives.
On a fateful day, 10-year-old Milica and 9-year-old Nataša did not finish their favorite elastic game, which they have started in front of their building in the 59 Rave Janković Street, in no doubt about the evil intentions of adults.
The girls were immediately transported to “Kasindo” Hospital, and in the protocol of the hospital is written that Milica dead on arrival and Nataša died 15 minutes after admission.
Slavko Ždrale, a doctor at the hospital, has determined severe head injuries without being able to provide any assistance.
Nataša and Milica remained inseparable even after their deaths, they were buried side by side in Miljevići Cemetery in East Novo Sarajevo, just a few kilometers from the city where they were born.
The principal of “Sveti Sava” Elementary School Danijela Mrda told SRNA that, in addition to Nataša and Milica, four other pupils of the school lost their lives.
The youngest, Zorica Divčić, was just enrolled in the first grade, and the oldest, Dijana Ćosović, never raised the school report, which is still in the school archives.
The Director of the Republika Srpska Center for War and War Crimes Research and Tracing Missing Persons Milorad Kojić told SRNA that, according to witnesses, which has been available to the BiH Prosecutor’s Office for years, the name of a sniper, who boasted that he had fulfilled his norm by killing these two girls, was registered.
“The murder of Nataša and Milica is specific because everyone felt that the decision of ceasefire would be fully respected. However, this did not happen, because the monsters, by the apparent order of their then political and military authorities, brutally killed children in order to provok the Serb side to react and be accused of violating the ceasefire”, Kojić emphasized.
He has pointed out that the killing of girls, who could not endanger anyone, was one of the methods used by the enemy to provoke Serbs, considering that the killing of children could not leave anyone indifferent.
Kojić said that the Center was doing a special study covering 585 killed Serb children from 1992 to 1995 in BiH, as well as six children who survived sexual abuse and torture, which still suffer certain psychological consequences today.
“It is very important that the judicial authorities prosecute all those who have committed atrocious crimes against all peoples, first of all, I think of the crimes committed against the Serb people, especially against children as the most vulnerable category”, Kojić said.
He has emphasized that judicial institutions, which are completely inert when it comes to crimes against Serbs, must address these issues as soon as possible.
“For the murder of Nataša and Milica, as well as Danka from Jošanica, the children of family Dimitrijević from Skelani, the region of Srebrenica, the children of family Janković in Jajce and many other children victims during the war, the criminals were not punished, which is unacceptable”, Kojić emphasized.
The Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians in East Sarajevo say that the case of the murdered girls Nataša and Milica is not the only one, because many Serb children were killed and seriously injured in parts of Sarajevo under Serb control, Vojkovići, Grlica, Vrace, and no one has ever been prosecuted for it.
Source: srna
