See the streets of Sarajevo during the anti-war protests of 1992

Anti-war protests in Sarajevo in 1992 began as a reaction to the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina that threatened armed conflict, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

During March and April, thousands of people on the streets of Sarajevo, as well as other cities in BiH, expressed their protest against the war.

The blockade of Sarajevo had already begun after the referendum on February 29 and March 1. The JNA set up barricades at all major intersections. On the first night, three people were killed and four wounded. After the barricades were temporarily removed on March 5, the President of the Presidency of the Republic of BiH Alija Izetbegović called on citizens to go for a walk and socialize.

Instead, citizens took to the streets in protests, and on April 5, 1992, a large rally was organized in Sarajevo with more than 10,000 people gathering in front of the BiH Parliament building. Members of the JNA, under the orders of the SDS, fired from the roof of the Holiday Inn hotel at the demonstrators. After the demonstrations held at Marijin Dvor, the gathered protesters headed towards the Vrbanja bridge. Snipers positioned there opened fire, killing medical student Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić on the bridge.

This was the beginning of the bloodiest struggle that Sarajevo and BiH went through. The siege of Sarajevo, which lasted 1,425 days, was one of the longest in the history of modern warfare.