Can you tell us more about the Association Milicanin, why did You feel the need to establish it ?
Association „Milicanin“ is established in the beginning of 1996 as an answer to the current situation in the local community Milici and Republic of Srpska. There was and still is the presence of grey eminency, where group of people are being controlled by those who have power. The establishment and activities of the „Milicanin“ were of course, not well accepted by the current government then, but also to the now-a-days one because it’s mostly the same people circulating in different political parties. The mission of Milicanin „Return to human, honor and tolerance is the way of spiritual, moral and material rebuilding of individual, family and place“ showed as justified and Milicanin has become, through its activities, recognizable organization for protection of human rights in these closed rural environments.
What were the main activities that „Milicanin“ focused on that actually brought up turbulent reactions ?
Main cases that Milicanin association worked on were: privatization of state capital of the profitable organizations in local community, providing legal services to employees who lost their jobs, public announcements on the present corruption within Milici community, implementation of campaign „Legal justice in front of jury of Democracy“ and publication of thought-provoking magazine „Bilten“ that wrote about non-democratic and illegal activities of certain individuals and institutions.
When did the threats start ?
Tracking and threats started from the very beginning of „Milicanin“ work. They were even more enforced in the time of 1998 presidency and most evident in the time of privatization where many of the employees have been fired. Milicanin association was making the effort to realize their employees’ rights before the legal institute in 2001.
In the process, Milicanin activists find out for some of the notes addressed to certain organs of Republic of Srpska to check my activities in personal life and to whom I associate with. Letters were also written to certain institutions with scanned signatures and stamps of the Association Milicanin. Anonymous letters were written to the authorities of Republic of Srpska (government, police, courts..) on so called, criminal affair in the Milicanin association which was, allegedly under the protection of international community, calling Milicanin activists foreign solvents, “sneaks“ etc.
My family and I started receiving threatening letters from Tuzla. Accidently, I have found out who’s the writer and warned the Prosecutors’ Office of Republic of Srpska. The Office did not take any actions, conducted no investigation nor drew any criminal notice. Special kind of pressure was engagement of state authorities to persistently check the work and make pressure on the Milicanin association.
There are six court appeals that are being prolonged illegally, making the financial sources of the economically and legally more helpless side, lesser by day to day. Two appeals for the written articles in the „Bilten“ magazine and four appeals for so called slander where the opposite, offended party requested huge amount of money from the „Milicanin“.
Even today, I am still under monitoring and I am being tracked. I presume they are awaiting for the adequate moment to attack again.
Can You tell us more about the night when the attack happened ?
In the end of March, I was attacked in my home yard around 10 p.m. I walked out my friend and closed the yard gate. There wasn’t any street light, but I did not find anything unusual in it, although just some days ago I have received threatening letter addressed to my family, which I of course reported to police. On nearly 10 meters from the threshold of my home, I just felt the strong hit on the back of my head with a hard object. According to doctor analysis afterwards, if the hit was just 5 centimeters closer to the mid of the head, the hit would be deadly.
The strength of the hit knocked me down, I fell and screeched out of pain which caused neighborhood dogs to bark. My wife ran out from the house into the yard and started to scream. All that scared the perpetrator and he ran away, otherwise he would go for another hit, I’m sure. Street lights went on 15 minutes after everything has happened.
My brother who lives near by ran to me immediately and in few minutes I was already in local ambulance where they transferred me to the Hospital in Zvornik and after which I was again transferred to the Clinical Center in Belgrade, Serbia. The doctors succeed to remove the blood and broken bones from the head, preventing the brain damage. Good part of my scull was totally gone. After long recovery, I now have heavy body injuries and larger hole in my head.
How did this affect Your life and the lives of Your family members ?
Engaging myself in such activities, left me and my wife without our jobs. We both were fired on the same day. Even our children suffered the consequences. They were excluded from the school summer trip which was free for all excellent students. They are both of course excellent pupils, but they were informed they could not go. They also denied my son’s status of the best student in his generation, because he would automatically receive the scholarship for further education. All that caused particular alienation and isolation of our family from the local community, cause in rural environment, people with power define the ways of life. It causes material insecurity of family, because we cannot find jobs in the community, people are scared of consequences if they hire us, it also jeopardizes education and development of our children, not to mention to what extent all that effected their psychosocial development.
Who do You find the most responsible for not prosecuting the perpetrator ?
Direct guilt for not finding the perpetrator I hold Prosecutor’s Office of Republic of Srpska which officers know quite well who is the perpetrator. I pointed that out several times, but they remained silent. Especially responsible for the unresolved attack I hold Supreme Court and Council of Prosecutor’s Office that are responsible for monitoring of work of Prosecutor’s Office and courts. But they transfer their responsibility to state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which simply creates total apathy and insecurity in me, especially because direct perpetrator is very well know to all of us here in the local community. He is very well known also to those obliged to process such attack. According to all indicators, the perpetrators had allies in local police service, where police facilitated the preparation, elimination of traces, alibi, mismanagement of the investigation etc.
It’s hard to know that threatening letters continued to come, but the investigative bodies never actually made a clear standpoint toward my reported cases. Although I identified some of those writers and asked for graphological and polygraphic treatment, responsible bodies again, remained silent. I then, asked for the polygraphic treatment of the certain officers in these institutions which I had suspicions with that collaborate with the perpetrator. Of course, I have never received any answer from them either.
What are your plans for the future, will You continue the work of Milicanin association ?
I have sent letters to Ombudsman in B&H, to Supreme Legal and Prosecutor’s Committee in B&H and recently even to Court in Strasbourg about my case and cases of employees in Milici deprived of their rights, but there are no answers yet. However, despite all that, Milicanin association will continue to implement its projects and we will stay persistent to achieve our goal of just and equal society.