We will never forget what happened in BiH in the period 1992-1995 and in Ahmici on this day 28 years ago. This must not be forgotten, because forgetfulness is dangerous, and it can lead to a recurrence of crimes, said the Bosniak member of the tripartite Presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, Friday, marking the 28th anniversary of the massacre of Bosniak civilians in Ahmici near Vitez.

“Today we remember and pay tribute to all 116 brutally killed civilians in Ahmici. We will never forget what happened in BiH in the period 1992-1995 and in Ahmici on this day 28 years ago. We will always remember it, and pass it on to younger generations. This must not be forgotten, because forgetfulness is dangerous, forgetting can lead to the recurrence of crimes,” Dzaferovic said.

The head of the strongest Bosniak party, centre-right Democratic Action Party (SDA) Bakir Izetbegovic also attended the ceremony saying that genocide was committed in this place.

“Twenty-eight years ago, genocide was committed here against the inhabitants of Ahmici. The goal was to completely destroy, to kill to the last soul, every inhabitant of Ahmici, from a three-month-old child, through children of a couple of years of age, to women and civilians,” said Izetbegovic.

He pointed out that “in order for such things not to be repeated, those who devised this, who committed it, must be punished accordingly.”

In a symbolic ceremony, among a small number of representatives of political and religious life in BiH, in Ahmici near Vitez, participants marked the 28th anniversary of the massacre of Bosniak civilians in that village.

In the early morning hours of April 16, 1993, special forces of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), Jokers and Maturice, attacked the village of Ahmici. The call to prayer, the morning prayer of the Muslims, was a sign of attack.

A total of 116 Bosniak civilians were killed, and the youngest victim in Ahmici was a three-month-old baby.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has ruled that the killings in Ahmici were crimes against humanity. One of the HVO commanders, Dario Kordic, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Zoran, Mirjan and Vlatko Kupreskic were sentenced to six to ten years in prison for participating in the massacres, but were acquitted in 2001.