Miner who felt ill returned to the mine, cannot go home out of shame

 SARAJevo, (Patria) - Muris Mujezinović, president of the Raspotočje mine branch union, felt ill during the hunger strike that the miners started today. Ambulance responded, and after receiving injections and infusions, he returned to the mine premises.

He told N1 that he felt "confused, but hopes to be well soon." When asked why he returned, Mujezinović said, crying:

"Where should I go? There is nowhere to go, what home. What will I do at home, I am ashamed in front of my family. I have been here for almost 40 years. I left my health, my life, we all sacrificed for this mine. It is truly not our goal to be here, we are forced, our goal was to work. Given this situation where the system has failed, I think we are collateral damage. We do not want to drag the city into this. They say at the ambulance, people are cold, they say miners are not giving coal. People do not know the truth – that they are not letting us work. We are all made of steel, this has weakened a bit because we are upset, sleep-deprived, under depression, this will pass. We are not here for them, they should be here for us. We are the ones who create and enrich them, and we have nothing, that is a fact," Mujezin said.

He is supposed to retire next year. During his work in the mine, he had multiple leg fractures, rib fractures, and a spinal injury that left him immobile. All injuries were sustained at the workplace.

Tomorrow, he and his colleagues will go on a general strike, and he asked his fellow citizens for understanding.

"A message to the people of Zenica – to be with us when everyone has given up, and they have. I know there are still patriots in Zenica, that they will not misunderstand us and that they will be with us," Mujezinović said.