President Stevandic at the commemoration of the Day of the Death of the 12 Banja Luka’s Babies: We will never allow our children to be killed again

The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, Dr. Nenad Stevandic, said at the commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the death of the 12 Banja Luka’s babies that Srpska will not allow anyone to kill its children in this way again and that he will not allow those responsible to have a clean conscience.

Stevandic said that he does not know whether the Serbian people would welcome repentance and an apology for the death of 12 babies in 1992 at the then Clinical Center in Banja Luka due to lack of oxygen.

He emphasized that those who did this are sending monstrous messages to the Serbian people that they cannot cope, that they have no right to exist or that they need to crawl to survive.

"By attending events like this, we send a strong message, not only about the culture of remembrance, but also that we are waiting and that we will not leave alone the dirty conscience of those who committed one of the greatest crimes, which is to kill 12 babies monstrously," said the President of the National Assembly of Republic of Srpska.

Stevandic emphasized that Srpska will constantly send messages to the dirty conscience of those who made decisions based on lies that it has no right to be peaceful.

Wreaths and flowers were laid at the "Life" Memorial by envoys of the President of Republic of Srpska, the Ministry of Labor and Veterans' and Disabled Protection of Republic of Srpska, the Consulate of Serbia, members of the National Assembly of Republic of Srpska, representatives of veterans' non-governmental organizations, participants in the "12 kilometers for 12 stars" march from Osjecina near Doboj, and numerous other representatives of political and public life.

Earlier today, a memorial service was held and flowers were laid at the monument to the 12 babies at the New Cemetery.

The organizer of the commemoration is the Republic Organization of Families of Captured and Killed Soldiers and Missing Civilians.

In May and June 1992, the UN Security Council banned international flights, even those carrying oxygen tanks, from Belgrade to Banja Luka, which led to the deaths of 12 newborn babies in incubators.

The first baby died on May 22, 1992, followed by the agony and death of other babies. By June 19 of the same year, 12 babies had died in Banja Luka, becoming a symbol of human rights violations and the inhumanity of the international community.

The agony was ended by the opening of the corridor and the connection of the Banja Luka region with the rest of the Republic of Srpska and Serbia.

The thirteenth baby, Sladjana Kobas, lost the battle for life at the age of 14, and the fourteenth baby, Marko Medakovic, suffered lifelong consequences from lack of oxygen.