Authorities in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica angered relatives of the 1995 massacre there by handing its top municipal award on Sunday to the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, local media reported.
The town's city hall under its Serb mayor Mladen Grujicic awarded the distinction, the Golden Plaque of Srebrenica, to Milorad Dodik, president of the Serb entity of Bosnia, Republika Srpska, the N1 television channel said.
Dodik declines to describe the Srebrenica massacre as genocide. The Bosnian Serb commander behind it, Ratko Mladic, has been sentenced to life in jail, convicted of genocide and other war crimes.
Bosnian Serb forces killed 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica -- the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Grujicic took over as mayor of the town from a Muslim after municipal elections in October 2016.
The Mothers of Srebrenica, an organisation representing relatives of victims of the massacre, condemned the award to Dodik.
"We are sickened to see this honour being given to a man who denies the genocide in Srebrenica," said the association's president, Hajra Catic.
Authorities in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica angered relatives of the 1995 massacre there by handing its top municipal award on Sunday to the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, local media reported.
The town’s city hall under its Serb mayor Mladen Grujicic awarded the distinction, the Golden Plaque of Srebrenica, to Milorad Dodik, president of the Serb entity of Bosnia, Republika Srpska, the N1 television channel said.
Dodik declines to describe the Srebrenica massacre as genocide. The Bosnian Serb commander behind it, Ratko Mladic, has been sentenced to life in jail, convicted of genocide and other war crimes.
Bosnian Serb forces killed 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica — the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Grujicic took over as mayor of the town from a Muslim after municipal elections in October 2016.
The Mothers of Srebrenica, an organisation representing relatives of victims of the massacre, condemned the award to Dodik.
“We are sickened to see this honour being given to a man who denies the genocide in Srebrenica,” said the association’s president, Hajra Catic.
