State Terrorism: Unsolved Political Murders, Dženan, David, Adis, Davor, Lana

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The murders of Jozo Leutar, Nedžad Ugljen, Mediha Halilović, wife of General Sefer Halilović, Taib Torlaković, Ramiz Delalić Ćelo, in RS the murders of engineer Milan Vukelić, Risto Jugović, and even the assassination attempt on journalist Željko Kopanja, remain unclarified to this day...

In more recent times, the murder of Lana Bijedić, Dženan Memić, David Dragičević, the murder of Sarajevo police officers Adis Šehović and Davor Vujinović, distance the judiciary from ordinary people. It simply gives the impression that the state of affairs is such that the mafia rules in it and politicians are protectors of that state. It is clear that nothing will ever be clarified that would disrupt their way of "leading the country".

When looking at the wide range of individuals suspected by the media of "political murders", both in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, one can conclude that the majority of the political establishment was involved in all these liquidations, and few managed to escape accusations. All unsolved murders are mentioned as political murders.

Nedžad Ugljen was murdered on September 28, 1996. The media wrote that "the investigation into Ugljen's murder was 'forgotten' in the desk of cantonal prosecutor Mustafa Bisić." Bisić kept the investigation in his drawers for seven years. In December 2003, prosecutor Branko Šljivar replaced him and served as chief cantonal prosecutor until 2009.

Ugljen's murder has not been solved to this day.

Jozo Leutar was murdered in March 1999 in Sarajevo. The investigation by the American FBI showed that an explosive device was placed in Leutar's car. The truth is that Leutar, as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, worked for peace between Bosniaks and Croats during the war.

Ivan Andabak, Jedinko Bajkuša, Zoran Bašić, Leutar's driver Željko Ćosić, Mario Miličević, and Dominik Ilijašević Como, one of the commanders of HVO units in Kiseljak, convicted as one of those responsible for the crime against 38 residents of Stupni Do near Vareš, were charged with Leutar's murder. The trial began 16 months after the murder in July 2001 and ended with an acquittal for all six defendants in November 2002.

Radovan Ortynski, State Attorney of the Republic of Croatia, claimed in meetings with police and judicial officials in Sarajevo that they possessed evidence in Croatia regarding the motives for Jozo Leutar's murder by the Croatian underworld and clients from the circle of HDZ hardliners. However, instead of a joint investigation, mutual accusations of non-cooperation began, and everything was forgotten.

In July 1993, in the apartment of General Sefer Halilović, his wife Mediha and her brother Edin Rondić were murdered. The official version was that they were killed by a shell. The family suspected all along that an explosive device was planted under the apartment balcony. No perpetrators were ever found, and suspicions multiplied. Several prosecutors changed on this case as well.

Taib Torlaković, commander of a unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, a post-war sports worker and owner of catering facilities, was murdered on January 16, 2004. The bomb that killed him was placed under the seat of the car Torlaković was driving from Vogosća towards Sarajevo.

Ramiz Delalić Ćelo, former commander of the Ninth Mountain Brigade, was murdered in 2007 in an ambush near his house. The killers have not been found to this day.

Murders occurred, prosecutors changed, but investigations or trials ended equally ineffectively without culprits. This happened in both the Federation and the RS.
Engineer from Banja Luka, Milan Vukelić, was killed in a car bomb explosion in the Starčevica neighborhood of Banja Luka, in the immediate vicinity of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, on November 6, 2007. He accused Slobodan Stanković, owner of the company Integral Inženjering from Laktaši, also a friend of Milorad Dodik, member of the Presidency of BiH, of theft.

The assassination attempt on Željko Kopanja, owner and editor-in-chief of the Banja Luka-based Nezavisne novine, was carried out on October 22, 1999, in Banja Luka. Kopanja was injured by an explosive device placed under his car. He managed to survive the assassination attempt but lost both legs. On August 8, 2016, Kopanja died at the age of 62, certainly due to the consequences of the assassination attempt.
Even England's Scotland Yard led the investigation, but without success.

Risto Jugović, General Director of the insurance company "Jahorina", was murdered on March 10, 2002, in front of his family home in Pale. Three days before his death, Jugović held a press conference in Banja Luka where he announced that he would be killed and that he was being subjected to a "witch hunt" from the highest levels of power in Republika Srpska, that he was exposed to constant political, police, and media pressure.

Two murders that particularly stirred public opinion in BiH were the murders of young men Dženan Memić in Sarajevo and David Dragičević in Banja Luka. David's father, Davor Dragičević, filed dozens of criminal complaints against people in the political leadership of Republika Srpska. He presented a video of his dead son, and the numerous cuts on his body clearly indicated a violent death.

Constant mass protests of citizens were held in Banja Luka, demanding justice for David.

In Sarajevo, a verdict is awaited for the retrial of a fabricated traffic accident. The alleged perpetrators, the Roma family of Ljuba Seferović, were initially acquitted, and then the proceedings were repeated by order of a higher court.

Dženan's father, Muriz Memić, accused Chief Prosecutor Dalida Burzić of concealing evidence and conducting the proceedings in the wrong direction. Memić claims that his son was murdered by someone politically powerful, which led to a poor and illegal investigation, and then to an open public rebellion. Nine prosecutors, including Chief Prosecutor Dalida Burzić, worked on this case in two years.

In the case of the murder of Sarajevo police officers Adis Šehović and Davor Vujinović, the investigation has not gone beyond what was presented to the public at the very beginning - that the police officers encountered vehicle thieves during their patrol who killed them. The investigation continues to revolve around car thieves, but there is no concrete information to date.
The murder of Lana Bijedić also shocked BiH. The investigation has not yielded concrete results so far, and to this day, there is no suspect for this crime.

A large number of details about the murder of this Mostar resident leaked out for days, and details recorded by surveillance cameras on buildings near where Lana Bijedić passed on that fateful day also became public.

We remind you that on October 6, 2019, she left her home in the Sjeverni logor neighborhood, saying she was going for coffee with a friend. Given that she did not return at the expected time and that her mobile phone was turned off, her mother reported her missing that evening.

A few hours later, a fisherman who regularly visits the Studenčica river noticed a body in the water, which was later recovered by members of the GSS (Mountain Rescue Service).

The fact that inspectors do not know which direction to investigate or are deliberately diverting attention is also evidenced by the considerable number of Sarajevo citizens who were surprised when members of the KS Ministry of Internal Affairs knocked on their doors and summoned them to the Police Station, because they were allegedly in their cars near, or passing by, the scene of Lana Bijedić's murder.

The citizens' surprise is even greater because some of them were not in that area at all, and when pressed to explain why they were summoned by KS Ministry of Internal Affairs inspectors, they said they were acting on a dispatch and request from the West Herzegovina Canton Ministry of Internal Affairs!?

The way parents seek justice for their murdered children, through protests and open accusations against the prosecution, has proven very effective and has shaken the foundations of the ruling political oligarchies. Unfortunately, there have been no concrete breakthroughs yet.

All these murders can be treated as state terrorism, because the state has not done enough to find the perpetrators, or corrupt officials have not wanted to do their part.