Young man’s death triggers nationwide protest in Bosnia

When the body of a 21-year-old student was found in a stream in March, police said it was an accident. But his family cried foul, unleashing a wave of protests unseen in Bosnia since 2014. Until his disappearance, David Dragicevic had been just an ordinary youngster studying technology in the small town of Banja Luka in northern Bosnia. But his death has transformed him into the symbol of a civil protest movement against injustice and corruption in high places. Dragicevic’s death has dominated political discourse in Republika Srpska, the Serb-run entity of Bosnia, whose capital is Banja Luka. The protests have also drawn support from Croats and Muslims. Such unity is rare in the nation of 3.5 million people where politics have long been divided along ethnic lines since the 19921995 war that claimed 100,000 lives.

When Dragicevic’s body was found six days after he went missing, police wrote it off as an accident.

But such claims have outraged his family, who remain convinced he was killed. His father Davor, 49-year-old waiter, has demanded that justice be done.

Since the end of March, hundreds of protesters have gathered in Banja Luka every day to demand “truth” and “justice”.

Two months ago, Davor Dragicevic went to Sarajevo to meet up with another grieving father, a Bosnian Muslim called Muriz Memic who also claims his son was murdered in a case he says was sidelined by the police and justice system in 2016. Police say 22-year-old Dzenan Memic was killed in a car accident. Both fathers came together at a rally in Sarajevo of mostly Bosnian Muslims, where protesters waved placards demanding justice for the two young men.

“I am Serb, Orthodox Christian. The murderers of my son are Serbs... These criminals and murderers have neither religion nor nationality, just their own interest,” Dragicevic told them.

Political analyst Tanja Topic said such a rare show of solidarity had unnerved the authorities as they did not know to control an event that “crosses ethnic and religious divisions, something which by no means suits all ethnic-nationalists in power”.

In Bosnia, there is a crippling lack of trust in politicians, which has contributed — along with poverty — to at least 150,000 people leaving the country over the past five years, figures from the Union for Sustainable Return and Integration charity show.

Anti-corruption organisation Transparency ranked Bosnia in 91st place. International