Protesters gathered on Saturday evening for the 202nd time to demand the truth about the controversial death of a 21-year-old man whose body was found in a river in March.
Police initially said Davic Dragicevic drowned but his family believes authorities are trying to cover up his brutal murder. Their search for truth mobilized thousands in the Serb half of Bosnia to occupy streets and squares and protest against what they perceive as top-level corruption.
Davor Dragicevic, David’s father, accused the Ministry of Interior or Bosnia’s Serb-dominated semi-autonomous Republika Srpska (RS) entity of being behind the cover-up. The Interior Minister, Dragan Lukac, is a member of the ruling party in the RS, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD).
Although a protest organized two days before the Sunday general election drew tens of thousands of participants, election results showed that support for the SNSD is still strong. The party won most of the seats in the RS National Assembly. Party leader Milorad Dodik won enough votes to enter Bosnia’s three-member presidency.
The results of the election were a huge disappointment for members of the ‘Justice for David’ group of citizens who have been gathering in the administrative centre of the RS, Banja Luka, since March.
Several opposition party politicians also attended the Saturday gathering.
“I can feel your pain, I can feel how you were betrayed, humiliated, deprived, stolen from by all those who have been representing you for years and this has to stop,” Adam Sukalo, a lawmaker of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), which is part of a coalition that ran against the ruling SNSD and Dodik.
He called the election process “criminal” and said if nobody else wants to take responsibility, he will.
“We have betrayed Davor Dragicevic when we thought we could find out the truth by democratic means. Davor, you will not be alone,” he said.
Davor Dragicevic also addressed the crowd.
“Ask for the truth and for justice from those you have voted for,” Dragicevic said bitterly.
He said he will not give up and he will continue to fight for the truth and for justice.
“My life, my honour, my dignity are at your disposal for 24 hours. Me, David’s grave and my promise – I will not abandon you, I will not betray you,” he told the protesters.
Stefan Blagic, the head of the ReStart Srpska NGO, said many people can’t wait for justice for another four years.
“This has to stop sooner. People have to take things into their own hands. Sometimes I ask myself if we can achieve this peacefully,” he said.
Blagic called on the opposition to do more.
“What are you doing? Are you taking part in the election to get mandates or because of the people in Republika Srpska? Half of the mandates you got you have to thank Davor Dragicevic for.” he said.
