Chair of the PABiH Delegation to the PACE Saša Magazinović Speaks at the PACE Plenary Session in Strasbourg

"Serbia protects the war criminal Novak Đukić, while the families of the victims of the Kapija massacre in Tuzla deserve justice

The Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH) Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Saša Magazinović, spoke today at the PACE plenary session held in Strasbourg, drawing a parallel between the lack of accountability for war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and those occurring in Ukraine and Palestine.

In his speech, Magazinović stated, among other points:

“Three decades ago, Bosnia and Herzegovina was the victim of aggression while the world watched massacres of civilians. One such atrocity occurred in Tuzla on 25 May 1995, when a shell fired by the Army of Republika Srpska killed 71 people. The average age of the victims was 21, with the youngest being only two years old.

Today, I speak here at the request of the Tuzla City Council. The families of the deceased do not seek revenge but justice.

General Novak Đukić was convicted for this crime. However, he is not in prison today — he evades justice and lives freely in Serbia, which protects him. He is a convicted war criminal and a symbol of impunity that encourages new perpetrators — perhaps even those in Ukraine or Palestine.

Even more troubling is that Đukić is not an isolated case. Serbia has provided refuge for convicted and accused war criminals for years. Therefore, the Council of Europe must condemn this practice and demand that every war criminal is held accountable — for Bosnia and Herzegovina today, and for Ukraine and Palestine tomorrow.

Without truth and justice, there can be no peace — neither in Ukraine, nor Palestine, nor in my country, nor anywhere else in the world. Let us learn from history. Let us punish the criminals and those who protect them," Magazinović concluded.

The Tuzla City Council recently adopted a Declaration demanding institutional action to enforce the final court ruling against Novak Đukić and to protect the rights of the victims of the Tuzla massacre at Kapija. Among other requests, it called for this matter to be addressed within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which Magazinović has since taken forward." (Statement from the SDP BiH Parliamentary Club in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina)