On this day in 1992: Dobrovoljacka Street clash in Sarajevo

During clashes on May 3, 1992, between defenders of Sarajevo and members of the former Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), seven people were killed and 14 wounded, according to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The incident occurred despite a ceasefire order issued by General Jovan Divjak of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A key figure that day was the late General Jovan Divjak, whose appeal to halt the shooting was captured on video. Standing on an armored vehicle, he repeatedly shouted: “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”

The JNA convoy, escorted by United Nations (UNPROFOR) units, was moving from the headquarters of the Second Military District in Bistrik toward Lukavica, but was stopped near Drvenija, in Hamdije Kreševljakovica Street.

According to testimony by General Milutin Kukanjac, then commander of the JNA’s Second Military District, six JNA soldiers were killed that day. He said the convoy included a total of 261 troops.

In 2012, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina discontinued its investigation against 14 individuals in the “Dobrovoljacka” case, including General Divjak and Ejup Ganic, a wartime member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The case returned to public attention after a new indictment was filed. Trial proceedings before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina began on September 21, 2022, against Ganić and nine other former military and police officials for crimes allegedly committed during the incident.

Those charged, in addition to Ganic, include Zaim Backovic, Hamid Bahto, Hasan Efendic, Fikret Muslimovic, Jusuf Pusina, Bakir Alispahic, Enes Bezdrob, Ismet Dahic and Mahir Zisko.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has also addressed the events, concluding that the JNA column in Dobrovoljacka Street constituted a legitimate military target.