The parties of Bosniak origin, the Bosniak Party (BS) and the Justice and Reconciliation Party (SPP), officially kept silent on the initiative for the rehabilitation of the war criminal. Osman Rastoder and they did not answer what their opinion was about the commander of the so-called Muslim militia during the Second World War.
Even the current government, of which BS is a part, with the exception of the SNP, closed its eyes to the fact that on Thursday evening a war criminal was brought to Petnjica, which could constitute a criminal offense.
A screening of the documentary film "Osman ef. Rastoder - Liberation from oblivion", author Avda Huseinović.
The authorities of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia declared Rastoder a war criminal after the end of the Second World War, and the leader of the Muslim militia, a kind of paramilitary formation that collaborated with the fascists, was killed in January 1946 under completely unexplained circumstances.
According to the Criminal Code of Montenegro, it is forbidden to publicly approve, deny the existence or minimize the gravity of the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes...
According to the available data, Rastoder is portrayed in the film as a hero and savior of Bosniak life in Bihor, and the public screening in Petnjica was attended by several dozen citizens. According to local media reports, the Mufti of Sandzak was also present Abdurrahman ef. Kujevic.
The initiative for the rehabilitation of Rastoder was submitted by the Bosniaks of Luxembourg, where Huseinović's revisionist work was shown for the first time in January of this year. The Bosniaks of Luxembourg and the diaspora appealed to the people of Bihor to initiate the procedure for the rehabilitation of Rastoder as soon as possible, "in order to correct the great historical injustice against the man responsible for the survival of Bosniak life in that part of Sandžak", but also "against the members of his people".
The media announced that they "asked Alimir Muratović to convey salams (greetings) to all active political entities in Bihor, and with salams and a request or rather an appeal, to start the rehabilitation procedure of Mulla Osman Rastoder as soon as possible in order to correct a great historical injustice"...
What do they think about the initiative, and about the war criminal Rastoder, from BS and SPP did not answer for "Vijesti".
The Beran SNP strongly condemned the screening of the film earlier, saying that they condemn any attempt to promote a war criminal, regardless of which side he belonged to.
"Now, when we need to move forward, through the European Union, when more than ever we need to work on multi-ethnic respect and tolerance, we must not allow ourselves to go backwards and promote those who have been declared war criminals".
They pointed out that in the days when the European Union makes it clear that Montenegro can be its next member, "individuals and groups are pulling towards the past, towards reopening some painful topics".
"Osman Rastoder, a war criminal, was the leader of the fascist militia during the Second World War and of the Skanderbeg SS unit," announced the SNP.
SS unit Skanderbeg, composed mainly of Albanians and members of the Muslim militia, is responsible for numerous crimes, among others, the massacre in the village of Velika in 1944, where on July 28, more than 500 mostly women, children and old people were brutally killed. The unit was commanded by a German officer August Schmidthuber, who was convicted and shot in Belgrade in 1947.
The crime in Velica took place during the so-called Andrijevic operation, that is, the attempt by German forces to prevent the partisans from breaking into Serbia...
According to numerous historians and archival sources, it is unquestionable that the Muslim militia led by Rastoder cooperated with the occupiers - Germans and Italians, in the fight against partisan forces.
SHERBOV TRY TO UNDERSTAND HIM
It is also a fact that the Muslim militia protected compatriots from the Chetnik knife, which is why the Montenegrin historian is "trying to understand" Rastoder and his actions. Sherbo Rastoder.
"For me, crime is something that cannot be justified, but I can understand it and I try to understand it," Rastoder told Radio Petnjica in 2016.
He also said that "the Muslim militia is not a movement or an army, but a group of people who defended their doorstep."
"In a chaos, people organize themselves to defend their country, children, family. Osman Rastoder was at the head of that group".
He then explained that "ideologically, the Communist Party, which was on the rise at the time, had the least foothold among Muslims."
"There are many reasons, but the essential reason is that in 1941, a Muslim from Bihor did not distinguish between Partisans and Chetniks. Osman Rastoder was charged before the Montenegrin war crimes commission. For me, crime is something that cannot be justified, but I can understand it and I try to understand it...".
Rastoder emphasized that Gornji Bihor was preserved during the war, in contrast to Donji Bihor, which was looted in 1943, and the citizens were killed.
"Upper Bihor was preserved thanks to the fact that there was some armed, organized force that defended those people. It was a Muslim militia headed by Osman...".
The screening of the film dedicated to the war criminal is not the first attempt to rehabilitate Osman Rastoder - in Petnjica, a sign with his name was placed on the street in 2015, without the decision of the local authorities.
The then president of the local Assembly Adnan Muhovic he said that this does not represent a provocation because it is about "a very important person" for Bosniaks...
Got a street in Sarajevo, like many criminals throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina
Streets in Bosnia and Herzegovina bear the name of Osman Rastoder, but also of numerous other war criminals - Chetniks and Ustasha.
One of Sarajevo's streets is named after the commander of the Muslim militia, and throughout BiH there are streets of Draža Mihailović, Jure Francetić, popa Đujić...
At the end of last year, the local parliament adopted the initiative of Our Party that these names must be changed.
One of the deputies of the SDA also voted for the initiative, and after harsh accusations from the "Bosniak Corps", he excused himself that he did not know what it was about...
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