Anniversary of Denis's murder - mother Ana Mrnjavac: Children are not a priority of this society and its authorities

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Exactly 13 years ago, in a full Sarajevo tram, sixteen-year-old Denis Mrnjavac was brutally attacked and killed.

The boy was returning home from school. He lost his life because of a glance directed at hooligans. N1 journalist spoke with his mother, Ana Mrnjavac.

Trams still carry people. People in them today wear masks over their mouths... were they then wearing blindfolds over their eyes, wonders, even after 13 years, the mother for whom the sound of a tram is the sound of death... could anyone have done anything that day, exactly 13 years ago, when in a crowded tram, out of the blue or rather out of hatred for peace, gentleness and beauty, which, as she recalls, he brought into every space with his presence – her son was killed?

She crosses over the tracks to the spot from which, on the anniversary of his death, she reminds the world of his innocence and goodness, but she does not cross over his death...

“He was such a quiet nature, but he was always positive, smiling, ready to play, to socialize, he was a versatile child, an excellent student, ready to help everyone, not because he is my son but he really was like that, he was popular, a child any parent would wish for... The pain grows greater every day,” says the mother of the murdered boy.

The hope that decision-makers in this city and country will recognize in Denis's image a possibility for warning, condemnation of violence, paying tribute to a youth cut short without reason, is fading.

“The organization ‘Youth Association Denis Mrnjavac’, these are his peers, friends, they initiated the construction of a monument, to serve as a warning in a way. Denis is not just Denis, he symbolizes all innocent victims of this city, but evidently, no one has an ear for it yet, nothing has been done there, and I am losing all hope that anything will ever be done. I believed that my Denis would be a great warning, a sacrifice, for all other children, for many years I thought that was perhaps the only reason for his tragic death, however, I am already losing hope, simply children are not a priority of this city, this country, this society and these governing structures. If they were, first there would be a change in the law, sanctions would be somewhat different, something concrete would be undertaken regarding juvenile delinquency and peer violence in general, but we are aware that these are just empty stories and that essentially absolutely nothing has happened,” emphasizes Ana Mrnjavac.

About what happened to her son, at the trial of the killer and attackers, no one testified. She went through the trial alone for two years, looking at the faces of those who attacked and killed her child, just as she now organizes the commemoration of the anniversary of his death and the placement of posters with Denis's image.

She is disappointed in society, the country, the system, but says – her place is here, in the land where he is buried.

“It is indescribable, incomparable... It's like you're living, seeing the light of day and... everything goes on normally in its own course, and then suddenly life breaks and darkness and gloom set in, there is no greater pain, it's the moment when you are cut off in everything. When all that happened, when no one came to help, no one, believe me, even wanted to come to the trial and give a statement... I really don't know where our humanity is. I don't know how someone could calmly watch that situation and that attack and not react, seeing that the child was like a sacrificial lamb in the ring, that's how the three of them behaved towards him...”

During the conversation, after filming the interview with Ana Mrnjavac at the tram stop, completely by chance, her first encounter with the man from the tram of her son's death, with the voice that told her from Denis's phone that he had been killed. With eyes that saw the last moment of his life.

“Ma'am, are you Denis's mother?”

She asks him: “How did you not react? My dear, he was alone...”

Confirmation of what she knew – that he was attacked without reason.