Dragoljub 'Draza' Mihailovic

On May 8 and 9, Serbia celebrated Victory Day in World War II with a series of events around Belgrade including wreath-laying ceremonies, concerts, film screenings, fireworks and the livestreaming of a military parade in Moscow.

As well as the victory over fascism, Serbian officials celebrated their alliance with Russia, the co-organiser of the festivities.

Ravna Gora Movement members Dusan Sladojevic, alias Krvce and Cica, Slavko Aleksic, alias Vojvoda, and Risto Lecic pleaded not guilty at the Bosnian state court on Monday to charges of inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance at gatherings in the town of Visegrad and the nearby village of Dobrunska Rijeka in March 2019.

The Bosnian state prosecution said on Thursday that it has filed an indictment charging Dusan Sladojevic, alias Krvce or Cica, Slavko Aleksic, alias Vojvoda, and Risto Lecic with inciting hatred between Bosnia and Herzegovina's main ethnic groups at a rally in Visegrad.

The Basic Courts in Trebinje and Bijeljina told BIRN that they have turned down requests to ban associations whose names contain the words 'Chetnik Movement' or 'Ravna Gora Movement'.

The plea was "rejected as unfounded", said Jelica Ijacic, the secretary at Trebinje Basic Court.

"The overall economic and legitimacy crisis after Tito's death in the 1980s created a favourable atmosphere for criticising the Partisan myth and creating positive images about their [the Partisans'] enemies [the Chetniks]," Djureinovic, who has a PhD in history from Justus Liebig University in Giessen and works with the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre, told BIRN in an interview.

Courts in the towns of Doboj and Sokolac have rejected requests to ban 16 associations whose titles contain the words 'Chetnik Movement' or 'Ravna Gora Movement', while three more courts in Bosnia's Serb-majority Republika Srpska entity are still considering requests to ban the associations, BIRN has learned.