MOSTAR (AA) – “Unfortunately, for 20 years now, nobody from the City administration came to visit the Old Bridge on the day of its destruction. This bridge belongs to all the citizens of Mostar. And it is so ugly to know they are never here on this day,” Mirsad Pasic Deda, who is famous for his jumps from the Bridge, told AA.
The ceremony to mark this sad anniversary was organised by the Association of Citizens “Mostari”. The Association gathered people who love the bridge and they never invite any politician to come on this day and mark the anniversary together with citizens. For the last several years, on November 9, they gathered at 10.16 am to mark the day of the destruction of this UNESCO protected site.
Each year, among other things, somebody performs jump from the Bridge. This year Nermin Saric Germa was the one to do that in front of numerous citizens who gathered under and around the Bridge.
“20 years went by and I still remember that day from 1993, as it was just yesterday. I am still emotionally connected with every stone of the Old Bridge, much more than I feel that with the one we have now at the same place,” Emir Balic, one of the most famous people who used to jump from the Bridge told.
He shares the feeling of some other people, including Esad Humo.
“The new Old Bridge connects riversides, but not people. It has been 20 years since the bridge was destroyed, and today politicians are still doing everything to keep people separated along ethnic lines. Our politicians have to think about the future,” Humo said.
On November 9, 1993, at 10.16am the Old Bridge was destroyed under the heavy fire from the positions of the Croatian Defence Council.
The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the case against six former military and civilian leaders of the so called Croatian community Herzeg Bosna, find that the Bridge was a legitimate military target.
The Old Bridge was built between 1557 and 1566 after the citizens of Mostar asked Sultan Suleiman the Great to do that.
The Old Bridge was reconstructed in 2004.
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