Dozens of thousands in Banja Luka, seeking justice for David

An informal group of citizens 'Justice for David' has held a series of protests since the end of March this year when 21-year old David Dragicevic was found dead in a river in Banja Luka. His murder was first qualified as accidental but the District Prosecutor later said it was a murder. The young man's father, Davor Dragicevic, has been claiming his son was tortured and brutally murdered. On Friday, he directly accused the Interior Ministry of Republika Srpska, Bosnia's semi-autonomous entity, of doing that.

“There is no Interior Ministry, no institutions, let alone a serious state. Everything comes to an end. Peace and dignity, love, power, tolerance. On David's square, we are humans. They are murderers and will stay like that. There is no coexistence with murderers or neighbourly relation,” said Davor Dragicevic, underlining that the group 'Justice for David' will never be political, partisan, religious or national.

The mass gathering, according to some unofficial estimates, was attended by around 40,000 protesters. The RS Interior Ministry called on Thursday for cancellation of all mass gatherings in Banja Luka on Friday as they had information that football supporters would come to the protest and cause unrests. 'Justice for David' and Dragicevic dismissed these allegations.

 Dragicevic's mother, Suzana Radanovic, briefly addressed the crowd, saying this was the battle for all children.

“We were left without our child, they did it in a monstrous way. I can tell you as a mother, God forbid this ever happens to anyone,” she added.

The protest was postponed for two hours as, according to the organisers, some protesters were prevented from arriving on time due to rigorous police controls at the access roads near Banja Luka.

Numerous police officers were securing the gathering, where no accident was reported.