The 2nd and 3rd of May 1992 represent the turning point in the defense of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the aggression which lasted from 1992 until 1995.
Today, 31 years have passed since the attack on the JNA column on Dobrovoljačka street in Sarajevo.
In the former Dobrovoljačka Street, the present Hamdije Kreševljakovića Street in Sarajevo, veterans of the past war and the defense of Sarajevo will gather in the association “Green Berets” to pay tribute to the killed defenders of Sarajevo by laying flowers near the Drvenija bridge, just like on every May 3.
With scarce means and without military equipment, citizens managed to defend the capital of BiH.
“May 2 was the day when the Yugoslav Army tried to take control of the city. At that moment, units of the Bosnian Territorial Defense forces were blockading six army bases in Sarajevo, and it was expected that the Yugoslav Army would leave Sarajevo — and Bosnia — by the end of May. Toward the end of April, an agreement was reached between the [Yugoslav Army’s] Second Military District HQ and the Bosnian Presidency that Yugoslav Army units’ movements around the city would be forbidden, except for ambulance vehicles, and those vehicles used to supply the bases with food, as they did not have their own kitchens. Every other army vehicle was obliged to request permission to move around Sarajevo,” Jovan Divjak, a former JNA officer, who played a central role in the events of May 3, 1992, told to Radio Free Europe.
Although he is of Serbian ethnic origin, he joined the ranks of the Bosnian Territorial Defense forces at the beginning of the war.
The bombardment of the city began on May 2 at 3 o’clock in the morning, and lasted until 5 a.m. They were targeting both the presidency building and the city’s downtown core, in particular the municipalities of Old Town and New Sarajevo. That was an artillery barrage intended to prepare the ground for an attack to follow. That morning the main Sarajevo post office was sabotaged as well.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina against ten people on suspicion of having committed a war crime in the former Dobrovoljacka Street in Sarajevo, in early May 1992.
Namely, the investigation on this case was opened for the second time in 2018 and it included 11 people, however, due to the poor health of Kerim Lucarevic, the case against him was separated.
Thus, the indictment covers Ejup Ganic, Zaim Backovic, Hamid Bahta, Hasan Efendic, Fikret Muslimovic, Jusuf Pusina, Bakir Alispahic, Enes Bezdrob, Ismet Dahic, and Mahir Ziska.
This investigation regarding the events in Dobrovoljacka Street was suspended on January 17th, 2012, but was reopened in 2018 due to suspicion that a war crime was committed. That is, the investigation was conducted on suspicion of war crimes against civilians, against the wounded and sick, against prisoners of war, and on suspicion of the crime of unlawful killing and wounding of enemies.
The events from Dobrovoljacka Street in Sarajevo (today Hamdija Kresevljakovic Street) are considered crucial for the defense of Sarajevo and BiH. There was a conflict between members of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and the Territorial Defense of BiH, but even today there is speculation about the number of killed.
The Hague tribunal also gave an opinion on the “Dobrovoljacka” case, establishing that the JNA column in Dobrovoljacka Street was a “legitimate military target.”
