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Murder of Dušan Jovanović

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Dušan Jovanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Јовановић) was a 13-year-old ethnic Romani boy from Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, who was murdered on 18 October 1997 by two 17-year-old skinheads. He was beaten to death on the Beogradska street in downtown Belgrade while going from his family home to a nearby grocery store. The only reason for the murder was Jovanović's Romani origin.

Childhood

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Dušan Jovanović was born on August 1, 1983, in Belgrade. He lived with his mother Milica, father Aleksandar, and sister Duška in Belgrade Street No. 35. He attended the VIII-2 class of the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School. Former classmates remember him as a quiet and gentle boy, a good friend who signed himself as "Dux",[1] and loved music and the song "Đurđevdan." During childhood, Dušan and Duška were inseparable, and since Duška was pregnant, in 1997, Dušan looked forward to becoming an uncle and wished that the child, if it were a girl, would be named Kristina.

According to family testimonies, on Saturday, October 18, 1997, Dušan was with his grandfather in Mirijevo, fishing and playing basketball and chess. Upon returning home, around nine o'clock in the evening, Dušan asked his father for permission to go to the store at Belgrade Street No. 33 to buy Coca-Cola and then, with french fries, watch American catch wrestling on TV. During that time, Dušan was afraid of the skinheads who gathered around stores near his house, at the Faculty of Law, and at the intersection of Belgrade and Njegoševa streets, and he avoided encounters with them.[2]

Murder

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The period preceding the murder of Dušan Jovanović was marked by violence, intolerance, and hatred towards those who were different because of their skin color, nationality, or religion. In 1997 alone, several cases of violence against street washers of Roma origin were recorded in Serbia.

On October 18, 1997, members of the skinhead movement confronted Dušan in front of a store, initially demanding money. Then they knocked him to the ground and started beating and kicking him with their boots while the passersby were watching. One of them tore off a piece of gutter and they beat him with it until they broke his neck. According to media reports from that time, four skinheads then fled in the direction of Slavija Square, and Dušan's motionless body was discovered by two girls who entered a drugstore and called the police. Since Dušan did not return home even after 10 or 15 minutes, his father went out to look for him and found his lifeless body.[2]

Verdict

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At the time, the media reported that, after a brief chase, four minors were arrested and placed in custody. Milan Čujić and Ištvan Fendrik, young men only three years older than Dušan, were accused and convicted of Dušan Jovanović's murder. They claimed to be under the influence of alcohol that day, and that the beating was everything they aimed for, as they had done such things before. In 1998 Belgrade District Court sentenced them to ten years. Since they were minors, they were sent to the Correctional Facility for Minors in Valjevo. They were supposed to be released on October 19, 2007. Due to amnesty, their sentence was reduced by 18 months, and by a special decision of the Belgrade District Court, their sentence was further reduced. Ištvan Fendrik was conditionally released on April 1, 2004, and Milan Čujić on April 30.[3]

Consequences

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Six months after Dušan's murder, the family moved from Belgrade Street in Slavija. They first went to Marinkova Bara, where they spent the next year and a half, and then to Orlovsko Naselje in Mirijevo. Three years after Dušan's murder, Kristina, Dušan and Duška's sister, was born and given a name Dušan loved. Dušan's mother Milica attempted suicide multiple times, which she ultimately did in 2015. Father Aleksandar passed away the following year after several heart and brain attacks, as well as the amputation of both legs. At the time of Dušan's murder, Duška was pregnant. She gave birth to a son named after her brother and moved to Sweden in 2002. After the death of their parents, Duška became Kristina's guardian and brought her to Sweden.[2]

Commemoration

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To this day, there is no official memorial in Belgrade for Dušan Jovanović, the boy who was killed due to hatred and racism. There are two memorial plaques at the place where he was killed, one installed by his parents and another by the Roma Union of Serbia in 2007, unveiled by Boris Tadić, President of Serbia at the time. Every year, Dušan's family, joined by the activists and representatives of non-governmental organizations, commemorates his murder. Representatives of certain political parties and local authorities also mark the anniversary.

In 2022, with the support of A 11 - Initiative for Social and Economic Rights, Duška Jovanović initiated the proposal to name the park at Slavija, informally known as Mitićeva Rupa, after Dušan Jovanović. The initiative was supported by Dušan's former classmates from Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School[1] and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. That year, on October 18, a symbolic plaque with Dušan's name was placed in the park. One year later, the Commission for Monuments and Names of Squares and Streets of the City of Belgrade had still not formally decided on the initiative. The media reported that there were unresolved property issues on the plot where the park is located because part of it is owned by a Czech real estate company. In a new proposal from September 2023, the initiators specified that the proposal concerns part of the park that is publicly owned.[4] The initiative to name the park after Dušan Jovanović was supported by the Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Tomislav Žigmanov, in a public discussion organized on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of Dušan's murder. Afterward, the minister laid flowers in front of the building where Dušan lived.[5]

Every year, in honor of Dušan Jovanović, a memorial football tournament[2] is held in Mirijevo, traditionally supported by the Zvezdara Municipality. In anticipation of the 26th anniversary of the murder in 2023, a mural with Dušan's image and the words "We remember Dušan! (1.8.1983 - 18.10.1997.)" was painted in Mirijevo.

References

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  1. ^ a b Martinović, Iva (2022-10-28). "'Bio je naš Dule': Školske drugarice u kampanji za park ubijenom romskom dečaku". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  2. ^ a b c d "Ubistvo Dušana Jovanovića 25 godina kasnije: "Tog dana je otišao i jedan deo mene"". BBC News na srpskom (in Serbian (Latin script)). 2022-10-18. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  3. ^ Colic, Nina (2023-02-19). "Ko je Dušan Jovanović po kom su aktivisti nazvali park kod Mitićeve rupe? - Društvo - Dnevni list Danas" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  4. ^ Martinović, Iva (2023-10-19). "Ubijeni romski dečak i dalje bez spomen parka u Beogradu". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  5. ^ Evropa, Radio Slobodna (2023-10-18). "U Beogradu obeležena godišnjica ubistva romskog dečaka". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2023-12-24.
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  • Movie "Dušan", Bojan Bosiljčić, RTS, 1997.
  • Movie "Oči u oči" [Eye to Eye], Jelena Zrnić, Free Zone Junior, 2021.
  • Book "Oni su ubili njegove oči" [They Killed His Eyes], Dragoljub Acković, 1997.
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