It's been 28 years since the crime in Štrpci

In Montenegro, today will be marked 28 years since the kidnapping and murder of 20 passengers from the train at Štrpci station.

Relatives and friends of the abductees, in Podgorica and Bijelo Polje, will lay flowers at the memorial to the innocent victims of the genocidal ideology of the nineties.

"With remembrance, we want to show respect and a public sign, that we cannot and will not forget the victims, nor everything connected with crime, criminals and those who ordered it," it was announced.

Relatives and friends of the abductees recalled that the passengers were abducted from the train "Lovćen" on the Belgrade-Bar line, at the local Štrpci railway station, when the Serbian army from Višegrad took 20 passengers out of the train, 18 of whom were Bosniaks, one Croat and one e-identified person.

"They were quite ordinary people. They found themselves at the scene of the crime by chance - everyone has a different destiny. If they are forgotten, if we come to terms with the silence of train 671, it will be a sign that there is no hope for us," the statement said.

One of the participants in the crime, Nebojša Ranisavljević from Despotovac, was arrested in October 1996.

"He was sentenced to 2002 years in prison before the High Court in Bijelo Polje in September 15. He served his sentence and was released in 2011," the statement added.

As they said, at the end of 2014, in a joint operation by the police of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15 suspects were arrested for participating in the crime.

The High Court in Belgrade, in October 2018, in the third attempt, confirmed the prosecution's indictment for war crimes against five former members of the Republika Srpska Army, and the trial is ongoing.

"In the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Department for War Crimes, proceedings were initiated against 11 persons for the same criminal offense. The trial began in October 2015 and is ongoing. The same court recently indicted Milan Lukić, who, for other crimes , sentenced by the Hague Court to life imprisonment," they said in the announcement.

The accused, Mića Jovičić, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison, but with the plea, he agreed to testify in the case against the other defendants.

"The trial is dragging on and there is no search for the remains of the victims, nor any organized care for the families of the victims," ​​the statement added.

Esad Kapetanović, Iljaz Ličina, Fehim Bakija, Šećo Softić, Rifat Husović and Halil Zupčević died. Senad Đečević, Jusuf Rastoder, Ismet Babačić, Tome Buzov, Adem Alomerović, Muhedin Hanić, Safet Preljević, Džafer Topuzović and Rasim Ćorić.

Among the victims are Fikret Memović, Fevzija Zeković, Nijazim Kajević, Zvjezdan Zuličić, as well as one unknown person.

The remains of Halil Zupčević were found at the end of 2009 on the shore of Lake Perućac, and the remains of Rasim Ćorić, Jusuf Rastoder and Iljaz Ličina were found in the same lake in 2010.