Resident of Mostar, Zoran Laketa, known to the public for an incredible life story related to the war and war events in the city on the Neretva, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 55.
Zoran spent the war in Mostar as a member of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), his brother Goran fought in the ranks of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), and to make the paradox arise even more, their father Ratko was in the ranks of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).
His brother Goran was killed in August 1993 by a projectile fired by HVO members from Hum Brdo (Hum hill). He was killed by a grenade from the army in whose ranks his brother Zoran was.
He called the war a peasant revolt
”My name is Sabahudin, Zoran or Ranko, my last name is Laketa, and all these names have the same meaning because all three of them were born at dawn or Sabah (Arabic word which means ‘Morning’),” Zoran said five years ago in an interview, Avaz writes.
For the war of the early 1990s, which he called the Peasant Revolt, Laketa said it was nothing but a ridiculous war. For this reason, he never wanted to tell his tragic life story to make someone sad, but he thought it was important to pass it on to the whole world so that it would never happen again to anyone.
God forbid it ever happened to anyone again!
”Yes, the whole world needs to know my story. My brother was in the ARBiH, I was in the HVO, and my father was mobilized in the VRS. Should we now talk about patriotism, nationalism, or allegiance? So were those our ideals? No, they were not,” said Laketa.
His message was clear: “God forbid it ever happened to anyone again!”