The house was to have been demolished at the order of the Bosnian Serb authorities unless it was restored to its original form, but representatives of the Islamic community and members of an association of women war victims formed a human shield to stop them from approaching the building.
Shortly afterwards, representatives of victims' families prevented the removal of a monument at the local cemetery which says that genocide was committed against Bosniaks during the 1992-95 war.
The Office of the High Representative and of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe yesterday jointly called on the authorities in Visegrad not to demolish the monument.
"If the planned enforcement and demolition on 24 December goes ahead, it could be seen as a very negative step recalling some of the most difficult days of this country’s history," the two organisations said.
The Hague war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia last year sentenced Milan Lukic to life and Sredoje Lukic to 27 years' imprisonment for war crimes against Bosniaks in Visegrad. They and others pushed 65 Bosniak civilians, including 17 children, into the house in the centre of Visegrad and set them on fire. Those who tried to escape were shot dead.