Death of David Dragičević

Death of David Dragičević

David Dragičević
Date	March 18, 2018 (2018-03-18)
Location	Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Type	suspicious death
Cause	Under investigation
Outcome	Death of Dragičević on March 18, 2018 (2018-03-18), protests, parliamentary inquire
Burial	April 7, 2018 (2018-04-07)
Inquiries	Local police; National Assembly of Republika Srpska
Coroner	Željko Karan
Suspects	Members of police -as claimed by parents

On 18 March 2018, David Dragičević, a 21-year-old man, went missing in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 24 March, his dead body was found. Police investigation ruled the death as an accident, but Dragičević's parents claimed that their son was brutally murdered and that the police and prosecutor's office are trying to cover-up the case. The result of the police investigation provoked major public uproar, and many mass protests were organized demanding the truth and justice. The public was overwhelmingly convinced that Dragičević was murdered.

In May 2018, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska voted to form an Inquiry Board to analyze circumstances surrounding Dragičević's death. The Board found that Dragičević was probably murdered, but its report was rejected by the Assembly. As of July 2018, the Prosecutor's office has not reacted, and the death remains classified as an accident, while the public protests are ongoing.

The incident

On 18 March 2018, 21-year-old David Dragičević went out with his friends around 7 p.m., but never returned home and was declared missing the same day. On 24 March, his dead body was found small Crkvena creek in suburb of Banja Luka. Dragičević was buried on 7 April at the New Cemetery of Banja Luka. The funeral was attended by the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik.

Police investigation

Police investigators claim that on 18 March, Dragičević visited the cafe in central Banja Luka where he had been caught up in a fight with several other young men. After this incident, nothing was heard from him until 24 March when police were informed about a dead body found in the water. According to the police, Dragičević visited another cafe after the fight, left, and then robbed a house on the way home. Police inspector Darko Ilić claims that surveillance cameras confirm that Dragičević committed the robbery on the way home and that several stolen items from the robbed house were found in his pockets. According to the police investigation, after the robbery, on his way home, Dragičević walked across a small bridge over Crkvena creek and fell in the water and drowned.

Coroner Željko Karan said that Dragičević had several haematomas on his body, probably caused by strokes during the fight he had, and also several post-mortem injuries on the hands, caused by stones at the bottom of the creek. When journalists asked Karan about the possibility that the haematomas were caused by another attack on the bridge, he answered that it is indeed possible, but that it "could not be determined during the autopsy". Despite this, police officially ruled the death as an "accident".

Dragičević family and public response

Memorial place for David Dragičević in center of Banja Luka

From the start of the investigation, Dragičević's parents claimed that their son was brutally murdered and that they possess evidence of that. According to Davor Dragičević, David's father, the killer is a well-known figure, and police officers, Minister of the Interior Dragan Lukač, and local police chief Darko Ćulum, are trying to cover-up the crime. Dragičević's mother said that he, on the night he disappeared, sent her an SMS that read "if anything happens to me, the perpetrator will be F. Ć."

Dragičević's death triggered daily protests in Banja Luka from the day his body was found. Every evening at 6 p.m., a crowd of 200 has been gathering at the Krajina Square in central Banja Luka demanding justice for Dragičević. On 15 May, a large protest was organized in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where several hundred people demanded justice for Dragičević and Dženan Memić, a young man from Sarajevo whose 2016 death was also ruled an accident, but whose father and friends claim he was murdered. On 16 May, similar protest organized in Zenica was attended by several hundred people. On 20 May, another protest was held in Tuzla under the banner "Justice for David and Dženan". Another protest was organized in Sarajevo on 26 May. Another large protest was organized in Banja Luka on 7 July and attended by 10.000 people. On October 5th another massive protest was organized in Banja Luka with over 40.000 attendees (30.000 people more than in previous gatherings) in this huge event. It also streamed live exclusively on BN Televizija

Journalist and blogger Slobodan Vasković analyzed documents and eye-witness accounts and on 2 May claimed that Dragičević was murdered. Chairman of the parliamentary caucus of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) Vukota Govedarica said on 10 May that he thinks Dragičević was murdered.

Parliamentary Inquiry Board

Under constant public pressure, on 11 May 2018, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska voted to form an Inquiry Board to analyze circumstances surrounding Dragičević's death. On 5 June, the Inquiry Board adopted a 320-pages long report after hearing members of the police and public prosecutor's office, coroner Karan, and minister Lukač. The report concluded that there is more than enough evidence that Dragičević was murdered and that the public prosecutor should immediately respond to those findings.

On 3 July, the National Assembly rejected the Inquiry Board report by a majority vote. The report was supported by the opposition MPs, but rejected by the majority coalition of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the Democratic People's Alliance (DNS), the Socialist Party (SP) and two independent MPs. The Assembly majority held that the Board did not have competency to characterize the case as a murder. Instead, they suggested the following conclusion: "The National Assembly expects the Prosecution and other law-enforcement agencies to treat the case of David Dragičević in accordance with their legally prescribes competencies and to act in accordance with the regulations of the Criminal Procedure Code, which will oblige other institutions to act accordingly." Although not accepting the report, the Assembly adopted conclusion that "the prosecutors in the case made numerous errors" and demanded that "the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina consider initiation of certain disciplinary procedures against the prosecutors".

Qualification of Murder

It took one hundred days for the District Public Prosecutor's Office of Banja Luka to qualify David's death as a murder. The statement signed by the District Attorney General Želimir Lepir, read: "In the current procedure of collecting the evidence, we have established with certainty the following: "David Dragičević was not kidnapped, captured or ill-treated. There is no indication for this, either the reasonable doubt or proof. This conclusion is based on the finding of a medical expert, which does not imply the existence of injuries that would indicate kidnapping, captivity, rape of the victim, etc. These facts are contrary to the claims of the injured father and a part of the public insisting on David’s being kidnapped, captivated and liquidated. David Dragičević was not beaten with batons and bats by a large group of people, as also claimed by the injured party and the public. This opinion is confirmed by the fact that only slight injuries have been found on the body without any fractures. " The Prosecution’s statement also reads: "based on the results of the investigations carried out so far, a reasonable doubt has been established that around 4:00 a.m. on March 18 2018, in Banja Luka, in the Velibor Janjetović Janje Street, near the Crkvena creek, there was a verbal and physical conflict between the injured and the suspects (two or three unknown perpetrators) during which Dragičević David, fearing for his life, either ran away from the perpetrators and fell down the steep banks of the Crkvena creek from a height of around 4.5 meters into the swollen Crkvena creek or the perpetrators pushed him into the Crkvena creek from the banks when he drowned shortly after hitting the water. His corpse was found on 24 March 2018 in the Crkvena creek in the immediate vicinity of the mouth of the river Vrbas. Accordingly, the Prosecution continues further investigation in order to clarify and establish the facts regarding the above-mentioned charge of the investigation order."

The Second Mass Protest

Nearly 20,000 people attended the second big protest in Banja Luka. It was organised on the 104h day of the protest. David's parents Davor Dragicević and Suzana Radanović and the father of the murdered Dženan Memić, Muriz Memić from Sarajevo, as well as Spasenija Aranđelović, the mother of the murdered Danijela Aranđelović from Tuzla, addressed the attendants.

Parents who suffered similar tragedies contacted the Dragicevićs family and asked for help every day. They often came to the square in Banja Luka and addressed the attendants asking for support so that they could also find the murderers of their children.

Indictment for the Disappearance of David's Underwear

During the investigation, one of the key evidence, the underwear of the late David Dragicević, disappeared. When this information went public, the RS MI and the Prosecutor's Office behaved extremely irresponsibly. In "One to One" show on the Alternative Television, the prosecutor Lepir told the reporter that this was an irrelevant evidence for the investigation. To the journalist’s question how it was possible to lose such evidence during the investigation, Minister Lukač replied with a question: Have you ever lost anything?

"There is a certain connection between the behaviour of the police officers who have lost the underwear and solving the case of David's murder. After death, a conscious control of physiological needs ceases, that is, the muscles relax and there can cause urination and excrement. Finding these panties and its contents, or traces of excrement on them should be the key evidence of how long the body was in the water, and I think it was not long,” explained the lawyer Feraget.

Alen Kukić Deleted Video Surveillance Footages

David’s DNA was never found in Đorđe Rađen’s house, which David had allegedly robbed before his death. The only proof that David was in it on the night of his disappearance used by the MI was the footage of surveillance camera. However, due to tampering with the footage, Alen Kukić was arrested. He admitted that he deleted parts from the footageand edited them. As he stated, he did this by the order of the owner of the house, Đorđe Rađen. The order, however, came from the police inspectors who ordered Rađen to seize the footages and hand them over as evidence. So, the footages were not seized by the police during the investigation, but by a civilian who had no right to do it.

Third Mass Protest

Two days prior to the general elections in BiH, on October 5, 2018, the "Justice for David" group gathered 40,000 citizens in the center of Banja Luka, asking for truth and justice for their fellow citizen peacefully and dignifiedly. The institutions and public media tried to prevent the protest from taking place. On the day of the protest, the roads to Banja Luka were blocked. People shared videos on social networks of buses stopped in nearby towns by the police who prevented them from entering the city. Revolted, citizens went on foot up to 80 kilometres to Banja Luka. "I implored, begged, sought truth and justice. There is no MI or institutions here, let alone a serious state. Everything comes to an end. Peace and dignity, strength and love. We are humans, they are murderers. There is no coexistence or neighbours’ relation with murderers. “The Justice for David” group is not and will never be a political, religious or national entity. This group is a group of truth

and justice. We are sincere, honest, and we will remain so forever. We will establish a foundation with David's name which will help children. Whoever comes to power, we will breathe down their neck. I swear by David Dragičević's grave, I will never let you down or I leave you; I will be your servant for the rest of my life. For truth and justice!" said Davor Dragičević during his address. During the evening, he once again confirmed that he knew the whole truth about his son’s murder.

The Police Violence over the "Justice for David" Group

On December 25, in the morning, when the citizens were at work and international organisations on vacation, the RS MI sent the police cordon on Krajina Square. Before that, Davor Dragičević, Suzana Radanović, Sofija Grmuša, Ozren Perduv and other prominent members of the Justice for David group were taken to the police station. The reason was a threat to security. The police first intercepted Davor Dragičević at the Novo Groblje [New Cemetary], but he escaped in a car driving to the city square seeking for witnesses for his apprehension. After the police had pursued the other members of the group, they put the yellow tape around the square and David's heart - a kind of shrine dedicated to the fight for truth and justice. Being revolted and curious, citizens began to gather on the square, so there was a large number of elderly people and children among them. There was a cordon of armed police between them and David's heart. You could only see their eyes from the helmets, truncheons and vests. The citizens did not show any aggression and begged the police not to remove the symbols of the "Justice for David" group, but the police quickly began to suppress them, push them with their shields and hit them with their truncheons. The media recorded the violence of the RS MI against their own citizens, so the scenes of bloody faces went around the world. The police torture continued in the station, which was also reported by the media. The citizens were even beaten with belts across their face. 18

After several hours of scuffling, the citizens were pushed from the square, and in the evening they walked along the streets of Banja Luka with Suzana Radanović. On the following day, Davor Dragičević and other members of the group were released from custody, and instead of gathering at the square they organised marches along "David's route", the streets for which the police claimed David had passed along on the night of his disappearance. Being dissatisfied with the treatment of institutions towards its own citizens, several thousand people from Banja Luka joined the marches. This time, strong police forces guarded the empty square and prevented the members of the group from stepping onto it. Unofficial curfew was in force in Banja Luka.

Fifth Mass Protest, Riots and Davor Dragičević’s Disappearance

On December 30th, at 6 p.m. the fifth mass protest took place on Banja Luka Square which was not organised by the “Justice for David” group but by the citizens supporting the family of the murdered David. After the protest, thousands of citizens led by Davor Dragičević were marching for hours through the city streets, halting in front of the Palace of the President, the National Assembly, the RTRS building and the building where the pathologist Željko Karan lived. That evening, Haris Džinović's concert was scheduled as a part of the New Year's celebration in Banja Luka. The city authorities did not want to cancel the concert despite the current situation in the city. Before the concert, members of the group entered the audience space and demanded the concert to be cancelled. Not only Haris Džinović’s concert was cancelled but also, Željko Joksimović and Željko Samardžić’s scheduled for the following days. The citizens left the concert area, and on their way home they were passing by Krajina Square which was guarded by the strong police forces. It was at this point that a real human hunt began. The policemen chased the citizens on the streets, beat them with truncheons and took them to the station. Social networks and the media reported new scenes of violence, such as the two plainclothes police officers kicking a young man lying on the ground. Then they attacked the cameraman who was recording the scene. What the pursued citizens did not know at that time was that the city authorities falsely accused them of destroying an equalizer at Haris Džinović’s concert. In the following days, Džinović publicly stated that the concert was not supposed to take place at all, and that he appeared in Banja Luka only to comply with the contractual obligation.

27th March 12, 2019 - Exhumation of David's body

Exhumation of David's body

At the request of David's parents, his body was exhumed from the New Cemetery in Banja Luka. About a hundred citizens, who came to support the family, attended the event. Two days later, David's mortal remains left Banja Luka.

More than 1,000 people attended the second burial of David Dragičević. His body was laid in a grave in a small town of Wiener Neustadt near Vienna. "My dear son, I hope you will find peace today so that I can come to you. I thank all the people who have come here, many of you were at the first funeral. My child was killed by the RS institutions.

Everything is already said, and nothing has been done. “Justice for David” exists and will exist forever. We will not forgive or forget," said Davor Dragičević over his new son's grave. More than a hundred citizens from BiH came to the funeral, including Muriz Memić, the father of the murdered Dženan Memić.