Bosnians Rally In Support Of Davor Dragicevic
By Danijel Kovacevic
Around 1,000 people gathered on Wednesday night in the Bosnian city of Banja Luka for a protest in solidarity with the leader of the ongoing ‘Justice for David’ rallies, Davor Dragicevic, after he was released from police custody.
A large crowd joined Davor Dragicevic, the father of a 21-year-old
man murdered in March, on Wednesday night for a protest walk and rally
in Banja Luka in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska,
passing by the locations where his son David is believed to have visited
on the night of his death.
During the walk, dubbed “David’s
Path” and intended to avoid any potential conflict with police,
Dragicevic stopped and lay down in the riverside spot where his son’s
body was found.
The walk ended in front of the Museum of
Contemporary Art, after police had blocked entry to the central Krajina
Square, with Dragicevic making a short address to the crowd and calling
for another rally on Thursday evening.
A couple of hundred people also gathered in Sarajevo, Tuzla and Mostar on Wednesday night to support Dragicevic’s campaign.
Riot
police were present at the Banja Luka event following a tense protest
on Tuesday night after Dragicevic was taken into custody for failing to
respond to a summons to a court hearing over charges of “endangering
security” during a protest held in front of the parliament of RS on
December 17.
Several opposition politicians who had come to
support Dragicevic were also detained, including Drasko Stanivukovic,
the youngest deputy in the RS parliament.
However, ralliers
heeded Dragicevic’s warning ahead of the event not to make any incidents
and provoke the police, who have been maintaining a heavy presence at
the central square, where “Justice for David” protests have been taking
place daily for the past nine months.
Dragicevic was released
from police custody on Wednesday morning, and has vowed to continue the
fight for justice for the death of his son, who was found dead in a
shallow river in March.
Police say he drowned, but conflicting
pathology reports and inconsistencies in police statements have fuelled
anger over what many Bosnian Serbs see as police incompetence and
indifference.
His parents say they believe their son was murdered
and have alleged a cover-up, something that the authorities have
vehemently denied.
Earlier on Wednesday, police also removed the
improvised shrine set up in the main square and announced that they
would not tolerate any more gatherings in the location, claiming all of
those so far had been “illegal” as permission from authorities had not
been sought.