STATEMENTS OF PEOPLE WHO SURVIVED TRIUMPH OF EVIL

The second day of the campaign "Together Against the Denial Virus"

A documentary called "Triumph of Evil" was broadcast on the second day of the campaign "Together Against the Denial Virus" at the SENSE Center, followed by messages from survivors Nedžad Avdić and Hasan Hasanović, and from Mirsada Malagić, who lost her whole family in July 1995

On the second day of the campaign "Together Against the Denial Virus" at the SENSE Center in Pula, a documentary produced by  SENSE and called "Triumph of Evil" was shown to the public. It gives a detailed account of the first trial for the Srebrenica genocide before the ICTY  - from the opening statements of the prosecution and the defence of general Radislav Krstić to the judgment.

The 90-minute long documentary sublimes fifteen month long trial and contains the most relevant and dramatic testimonies by the victims and witnesses of mass executions, as well as forensic evidence, videos and photos of the exhumations of mass graves. General Krtsić, former commander of the Drina Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army, was sentenced on 2 August 2001 to 46 years in prison. The Appeals Chamber subsequently reduced the sentence to 35 years.

"Triumph of Evil" was followed by the statements of three survivors from Srebrenica. Their video messages were recorded for the purpose of the campaign "Srebrenica 25: Togeter against the Denial Virus", carried out by 16 civil society organizations from Croatia, B-H, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Hasan Hasanović, today the custodian of the Memorial Center in Potočari, told the story about his escape through the woods from Srebrenica to Tuzla in July 1995. He started the journey with his father, twin brother and uncle. "For seven days and nights I marched, pursued like an animal. I had only 45 kilograms, I was a scared young boy, however that whole time I didn't lose the hope of survivng, of my family surviving, and of us getting together again. Sadly, in 2003 the remains of my father were found and I buried him here in Potočari. Two years later I buried my twin brother too, that was the most painful day of my life. A couple of years afterwards I returned here to work for the Memorial Center to tell my story and educate people."

In July 1995 Mirsada Malagić lost her husband, two sons, father-in-law, brother-in-law and many friends. She used to spend her days crying and mourning her dead and her destiny, as she said in the message. Then in 2000 she accepted the inviitation to testify before the Tribunal, in the Krstić case. Other testimonies followed. "In the name of these white gravestones in Potočari, in the name of all the missing, the killed, in the name of the bones and my children and husband, I testified and I am glad I did. Most of those accused were convicted of genocide."

"I survived the massacre, I and one other man", said Nedžad Avdić in his video message. He was 17 when taken for execution at the Petkovci dam on July 14, 1995. Over one thousand men were executed there. "I was hit in the stomack, in the arm, I was hit several times. Those were very difficult moments. I had no hope of surviving. I just hoped I would die quickly, not suffer too much, and I thought that my mother would never find out where I was...I remember when the Serb soldiers told us to lie down and started to shoot, but I don't know when I was hit. I remember lying and trembling, the pain in the stomack and the arm, bullets flying all around me. I was waiting for the next bullet to hit me, people were moaning everywhere around."