The Banja Luka city Police told the “Justice for David” group members, on Friday, they can no longer gather in the courtyard of the Church of Christ the Saviour where they have been lighting candles for David Dragicevic, whose controversial death sparked series of anti-government protests across Bosnia's Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) entity.
The Northern-Bosnian city of Banja Luka's police said the ban came after the Banja Luka diocese wrote to them, saying the group is “disrupting the Church's regular activities,” asking the police to stop them from further gathering there.
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The lifeless body of the 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 turned into an ongoing anti-government movement.
Dragicevic’s death and the allegations against authorities caused shock-waves in the RS, 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.
David's body was exhumed and reburied in Austria, in March this year, following his parents’ claims he would not find peace in Banja Luka as long as his case remains unresolved and perpetrators unpunished.
The police also stated that members of the “Justice for David” group were banned from gathering in the Krajina Square – Banja Luka's central square, despite there not being any official document about it, and that they can only gather in the “Mladen Stojanovic” Park, with a previously obtained permission from the police.
