Islam Mehmedovic is on Thursday laying his father Ismet to rest during the July 11 Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide and the ceremonial funeral for the newly identified victims.

“He was first captured in the forests around Srebrenica,” Mehmedovic said about his 48-year-old father. “He was most probably shot in the prison in Grbavci,” he said, adding that the remains were finally found after 24 years of searching and agony.

As he sat next to his father’s casket, he said that to him it is most important that he knows where his father’s grave will be – “in this valley of Bosnian sorrow in Potocari.”

Islam, who is a religious official, sent a message to the families of the victims, asking them to remain dignified as they have been until now.

“As for our evildoers, I say let us not hate them. We want their fathers and sons to live. We want to tell them that they can never understand the heart of a believer – a Muslim who was taught to only love, regardless of anything. Love and forgiveness and looking toward the future,” he said.