They proposed that a street in Bijelo Polje be named the Street of Victims of Kidnappings in Štrpci

The Human Rights Action (HRA) and the non-governmental association (NGO) "Štrpci - Against Oblivion" proposed to the Municipal Assembly (MA) of Bijelo Polje that a street in that city be named the Street of Victims of Abductions in Štrpci, to permanently remind us of the consequences of the war crime and build a culture of remembrance and a culture of peace, as civilizational achievements.

The HRA and the NGO "Štrpci - Against Oblivion" reminded that tomorrow marks 33 years since the kidnapping and murder of 20 passengers from the train "Lovćen 671" at the Štrpci station on February 27, 1993, committed by members of the Army of Republika Srpska.

"Passengers were taken off the train, robbed, abused and killed simply because they were not of Serbian nationality, and their bodies were thrown into the Drina River," the statement said.

It is alleged that Esad Kapetanović, Iljaz Ličina, Fehim Bakija, Šećo Softić, Rifat Husović, Halil Zupčević, Senad Đečević, Jusuf Rastoder, Ismet Babačić, Tomo Buzov, Adem Alomerović, Muhedin Hanić, Safet Preljević, Džafer Topuzović, Rasim Ćorić, Fikret Memović, Fevzija Zeković, Nijazim Kajević, Zvjezdan Zuličić and one unknown passenger were killed.

It is noted that the youngest victim was 16 and the oldest was 59 years old.

It is stated that eight of those killed were citizens of the Republic of Montenegro, and that to date the remains of only four have been found (Halil Zupčević, Rasim Ćorić, Jusuf Rastoder and Iljaz Ličina), while the families of the others are still awaiting the opportunity for a dignified burial.

"In memory of the victims and the need to permanently preserve them in public space, the non-governmental association 'Štrpci - Against Forgetting' and HRA proposed to the Bijelo Polje Municipal Assembly that a street in that city be named the Street of Victims of Abduction in Štrpci, to permanently remind us of the consequences of the war crime and build a culture of remembrance and a culture of peace, as civilizational achievements," the statement said.

As stated, the need for such commemoration is also important because only 38,8 percent of citizens know exactly what happened in Štrpci, according to a public opinion survey conducted by HRA in 2024.

"This data points to a worrying lack of education about the recent history of Montenegro. Including the facts about the crime in Štrpci in the history curriculum is important for preventing the recurrence of crimes and the circumstances in which they are possible," said the HRA and the NGO "Štrpci - Against Oblivion".

These organizations stated that justice for the victims in the form of punishment of those responsible for this crime has not been fully ensured.

It is recalled that three years ago, the HRA submitted an initiative to the Special State Prosecutor's Office to expand the investigation to new perpetrators, organizers and orderlies, as well as those who had knowledge of the planned kidnapping, but did nothing to prevent it.

"The prosecutor's office has launched an investigation, the results of which are not yet known," the statement said.

It is emphasized that ten people have been convicted by final judgments before courts in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) so far – one in Montenegro (2003) and nine in BiH (2016 and 2023).

"In Serbia, the trial of members of paramilitary formations began in 2019. After the first-instance verdict was overturned, in a retrial in 2025, three defendants were sentenced to five and ten years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population, and the verdict is not yet final," the statement said.

It is added that two of the accused have since died.

The statement recalls that the commander of the "Avengers" unit, whose members committed this crime, Milan Lukić, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hague Tribunal for other serious crimes committed in Višegrad, but he has not yet been tried for the kidnapping and murder of passengers in Štrpci, although he was indicted for that crime before the Court of BiH.

It is emphasized that the proceedings conducted in Montenegro against Nebojša Ranisavljević established that the kidnapping was planned in advance and carried out with the knowledge of the then high-ranking officials of the civil, police and military structures of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and that it had the character of an organized operation related to the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of the victims.

"Documentation produced during the trial, including materials from the Humanitarian Law Center, indicates the existence of a chain of command responsibility leading to high-ranking officials of the civil, police and military authorities of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the time," the statement said.

It is stated that at a meeting attended by the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Užice, Baško Petrić, the Commander of the Užice Region Police, Đorđe Kerić, and from ŽTP: Mitar Mandić, Drago Tadić, and Vuko Mulina, it was concluded that "the information about the intention to take passengers off the train is confirmed and it is added that this is a strategic operation by the Serbian army to create conditions for the exchange of prisoners and dead."

As it is pointed out, despite this, to date none of the perpetrators and organizers of the crime have been charged.