Zenica massacre

Zenica massacre
Zenica massacre
Part of the Croat–Bosniak War
Location	Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates	44°11′54″N 17°54′44″E / 44.19833°N 17.91222°E
Date	19 April 1993
Target	Bosniaks
Attack type	Mass killing
Deaths	16
Injured	>50
Perpetrators	Croatian Defence Council (HVO)
Motive	Anti-Bosniak sentiment

The Zenica massacre happened on 19 April 1993, shortly after noon. Several shells fired from the Croatian Defence Council’s positions located in Putićevo village, about 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Zenica, killed 16 and injured over 50 civilians in a large crowd.^[1]^[2]

Attack

At the time, there was significant commercial activity in the center of the city, with about two to three thousand men, women and children in the area ultimately hit by shells.^{[citation needed]}

The exact number of shells fired at the center of Zenica is not known though estimates place the number at nine shells shot from the Croatian Defence Council’s howitzers.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] A total of six shells hit the target, three series of two. The first attack began at about 12:10 local time, the second one with two shells at 12:24, and the final two shells at 12:29.^[7]

Aftermath

ICTY charged HVO's general Tihomir Blaškić for the crime. There are two different claims about source of the fire: charge in the Blaškić process claims there were HVO's positions in Putićevo,^[8] while defence claimed that shelling perpetrator were Serbian forces from mountain Vlašić.^[8]

The Trial Chamber acquitted general Blaškić of all counts of the charges by which he was accused of the crime.^[8]

Memorial park

In order to remember the people killed after the crime of 19 April 1993, city square in Zenica became known as Stone Sleeper [bs] (translation of Kameni spavač, name of Mak Dizdar's work); it is a memorial park with large curved memorial sculpture with names of killed Zenicans, one fountain and memorial plate referring to Dizdar.^{[citation needed]}

Also, the date of massacre is commemorated as a civilian victims' day of Bosnian War in Zenica.^[9]^[10]^[11]