Original article (in Serbian) was published on 15/06/2022
Vecernje novosti published a claim that “soon only those who sign with their own hand that genocide took place in Srebrenica will be able to enter the Potocari Memorial Center”. As they claim, based on their “knowledge”, it is a “dangerous idea which is only the first step of a well-designed action”. However, it is not clear from the text whether the Memorial Center was asked about this. After the publication of the text, the director of this center, Emir Suljagic, denied the mentioned claims on Twitter and said that the entrance is open and free.
Prior to the July 11 commemoration, Vecernje novosti, known for denying the genocide in Srebrenica, published that entry to the Srebrenica Memorial Center in Potocari will in the future require the signature of every adult citizen, thus anyone who wants to visit it will have to personally acknowledge the Resolution about the genocide in Srebrenica.
The text refers to the statements of Branimir Kojic, president of the Organization of families of captured and killed soldiers and missing civilians, who told Novosti that “the intention is that after a certain period of time, all collected signatures will be sent to the European Parliament in order to open a debate on “genocide””.
The opinions of the president of the Veterans organization of the RS, Radan Ostojic, and the president of the Republic’s organization of families of killed and missing civilians and soldiers, Veljko Lazic, are also being discussed. They agree that it is practically a Bosniak agenda to declare the Serbian people genocidal, and that the Serbian victims are being forgotten.
Vecernje novosti does not include the other side of the story – i.e., the Srebrenica Memorial Center – Potocari.
The director of this center, Emir Suljagic, reacted on Twitter a few hours after the publication of the text:
“Let’s first resolve that this is a lie. I am the director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, and the entrance to the center is open and free”, said Suljagic, among other things, sharing the same text from the web portal B92, which was taken from Vecernje novosti.
In addition to B92, the text was also reported by some other media such as Sputnik and the web portal of TV Pink.
On the website of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, it is stated that it is open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the only requirement is that the visit is announced in advance “for the purpose of better planning and organization” – people are invited to specify when they will come, whether they need curator, adaptation of visits to persons with disabilities, accommodation in Srebrenica, transportation and similar.
Despite the strong denials of genocide by a large part of the public in Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, the genocide in Srebrenica is an established fact for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The first final judgment treating this crime that took place in the summer of 1995 as genocide was passed in 2004, and in the meantime, some commanders of the Army of the Republic of Srpska, such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, were convicted for it.
Also, in 2007, the tribunal acquitted Serbia of responsibility for the genocide, stating that there was individual responsibility of the war generals, that Serbia did not participate officially or directly in these events, but also that the authorities in Belgrade did nothing to prevent the genocide or to punish those responsible.
In 2010, the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Declaration on Condemnation of Crime in Srebrenica. With that declaration, the Assembly strongly condemned the crime committed against the Bosniak population in Srebrenica in July 1995, “in the manner determined by the judgment of the International Court of Justice”, expressed its condolences and apologies to the families of the victims because everything was not done to prevent this tragedy, and stated that it would provide full support to state authorities for the prosecution of war crimes.
Nevertheless, although the declaration relies on the decisions of the court in The Hague and expresses its commitment to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, these events are not defined as genocide but as “crimes”.
Pro-regime domestic media, such as tabloids, regularly deny that the genocide in Srebrenica took place. In this regard, Vecernje novosti leads the way, often dealing with the topics of Srebrenica, Jasenovac, or the conflict in Kosovo, and in a biased manner in which only Serbian victims are acknowledged, while the importance of other victims is minimized. Such texts are amplified ahead of important dates, such as July 11, which marks the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.