The date May 2, 1992, is etched in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina primarily for the heroic defense of the state capital, Sarajevo, but also for the events of the night, when the then-President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović, was kidnapped.
In an unprecedented move by the then Yugoslav People’s Army, upon his landing at the Sarajevo International Airport, the forces of this army arrested the President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and took him out of the city to the Yugoslav People’s Army barracks in Lukavica. Izetbegović had landed in Sarajevo with his daughter Sabina and several other members of the delegation of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina who had participated in negotiations in Portugal.
Yugoslav People’s Army forces, which had previously taken control of the Sarajevo airport, kidnapped Izetbegović as soon as his plane landed and refused to let him into the city. Upon their arrival in Lukavica, the Yugoslav People’s Army General Vojislav Đurđevac decided not to release Izetbegović and the rest of the delegation of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovinauntil the army’s troops, under the command of General Milutin Kukanjac, who were stationed in the barracks in Sarajevo’s Bistrik neighborhood, were allowed to leave the city.
The entire situation was documented during the Sarajevo Television evening news, hosted by Senad Hadžifejzović. It was precisely during this broadcast that Izetbegović, speaking with then-Presidency member of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ejup Ganić, revealed that he had been kidnapped and was being held in Lukavica.
“I am practically a prisoner here,” Izetbegović said in response to Hadžifejzović’s direct question about his status.
During the conversation, General Đurđevac denied that an attack on Sarajevo was underway, despite the fact that throughout May 2nd, besides the armored vehicle attacks repelled by the city’s defenders in the morning and afternoon, the Yugoslav People’s Army continuously shelled numerous locations in Sarajevo, most of them civilian. He also claimed it was not a kidnapping, justifying it by saying “Izetbegović is safest in Lukavica.” Nevertheless, he repeatedly refused to release Izetbegović and demanded that his conditions be met first.
Ganić attempted to describe the situation in the city, emphasizing the Yugoslav People’s Army attacks on state institutions and civilian targets in Sarajevo.
“The army is shelling the city! This is aggression, this is unbelievable! They have been shelling since 12:00. The Workers’ Union Hall, the Parliament, and the Hum relay station have been hit. Journalists are here, the local public, the international public! For God’s sake, man, shells and rockets are falling here,” Ganić said, among other things.
The kidnapping of the president of an independent state by the army of a country stationed on its territory without a mandate was an absolute precedent at the time and can be described as an attempted coup d’état.
During the conversation involving Ganić, Izetbegović, Đurđevac, and Presidency member of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Stjepan Kljujić, it was agreed that Izetbegović would be directly exchanged for the Yugoslav People’s Army soldiers located in the Bistrik barracks.
Izetbegović spent the night in the Yugoslav People’s Army barracks and returned to Sarajevo the following day, after the exchange agreement was fulfilled regarding the President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Yugoslav People’s Army soldiers located on Bistrik.
However, because Kukanjac and his troops attempted to withdraw a large amount of equipment and documents from the barracks, a conflict broke out in Dobrovoljačka Street, resulting in the deaths of six people – five Yugoslav People’s Army soldiers and one civilian, Klix.ba writes.
