Police in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated part, Republika Srpska (RS), continue to detain citizens who express support for the ‘Justice for David’ group, which has been gathering for more than 300 days in the city of Banja Luka to demand the murder of a young man to be solved.
Among those detained on Tuesday evening were US citizen Zaim Sibic and Slovenian citizen Janko Testen, who also have Bosnian citizenship.
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“They handcuffed me, it is the first time ever that I was detained, in my 65 I never had cuffs on my hands,” Sibic said.
He explained that he had US citizenship, but that when the officers found a Bosnian ID in his wallet, the officers became hostile.
“Everything I signed, I was forced to sign,” he said.
“They detained the wrong people, this will come back to bite them, we will complain to embassies, we will keep complaining until we find out who is responsible for this,” said Testen, adding that everyone has the right to stand at a town square and that he did nothing wrong.
The lifeless body of 21-year-old David Dragicevic was found in a local river in March last year. Police initially said the death was a result of drowning, but the family and all those involved in the ‘Justice for David’ group say the police are trying to hide the perpetrators of the murder.
The protests have turned into an ongoing anti-government movement.
Dragicevic’s death and the allegations against authorities have caused shockwaves in Republika Srpska, but also in the entire country.
Protesters in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of the RS, have been gathering to light candles for Dragicevic and raising their fist in support for the movement but were then often detained.
The leader of the ‘Justice for David’ group and father of the killed young man, Davor Dragicevic, is nowhere to be found for 24 days already.
RS police are searching for him, accusing him of “endangering the constitutional order”.
