Samir was only 16 years old when he was killed, his only wish was to be a police officer

I cannot go into the reasons why the Sarajevo Police Academy does not attach importance to the anniversary of the death of my brother Samir, who was their student when Serbian forces killed him during the attack on the school in 1992.

They probably have a reason. We officially invite them every April 5th to lay flowers, but they do not respond. They do not cause us problems, they do not prevent us from the family and the Association commemorating the anniversary, but they are not there.

Professors and students who were part of the police school at the time of Samir's death come, but the administration and professors who currently work at the Academy do not come – says Jasmin Mišić, Samir Mišić's younger brother, a second-year student at the Police School in Vrace, Sarajevo, who was captured by Serbian forces and then brutally liquidated, even though he was only 16 years old, in an interview with the BH news agency Patria.

He was full of strength and spirit. Jasmin was 11 years old when Samir was killed. He says his brother wanted to be a police officer more than anything. He finished the first year of the mechanical school in Rogatica, and then he was admitted to the police school.

Jasmin is bothered by the fact that few people know and few people talk about his brother's death today. His death is not even mentioned in some official records of the events of that day. Student Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić are mentioned as the first victims of the aggression against Sarajevo, and underage Samir was also killed on the same day.

Željo completed his last training session

According to official records, the attack on the school was ordered by the then Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, Momčilo Mandić. The Special Unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska participated in the attack. There were about 840 students, professors, and trainees in the school at that time... About 400 students were under 18 years old.

The attack on the school began shortly after 3 PM. At the time of the attack, the football club Željezničar was having its last training session on a training field 200 meters away, before a never-held league match with Rad from Belgrade. The footballers found themselves caught in the crossfire at the beginning of the attack.

Professor shot at students

The school principal Husein Balić refused to surrender. Armed with school weapons used for training, he resisted the Serbian special forces led by Milenko Karišik. He had been Balić's colleague and a professor to the students he was now shooting at just a few days earlier.

During the attack on the students, the special forces were supported by Duke Slavko Aleksić with his army, the Serb population from Vrace, as well as Serb police officers to whom Radomir Spaić, commander of the Sarajevo Fire Brigade, distributed firefighter uniforms. The school principal Husein Balić appealed for someone to help him and the students, but he could not get help. The unfair fight continued non-stop until the early evening hours.

JNA launched an attack on students

The commander of the 4th Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), General Vojislav Đurđevac, ordered the commander of the 49th Brigade of the JNA to move towards the school in Vrace with a battalion of soldiers, allegedly to prevent conflict.

However, the opposite happened. Members of the 49th Brigade of the JNA joined the attacks on the police school. The professors were captured and taken to Pale. Before being exchanged, they were tortured for five days.

The students were held captive in the elementary school "Radojka Lakić" near the Police School. Serbian police officers then killed Samir Mišić from Rogatica, a 16-year-old second-year student of the 20th class of the Police School.

None of Samir's relatives could attend the funeral at the Bare cemetery in Sarajevo from the besieged Rogatica. The director of the Police School, Balić, along with several other professors, laid him to rest in the grave after his release from captivity. Samir Mišić was posthumously awarded the Golden Police Badge.

The Association of Fighters First Independent Brigade Stup – Ilidža commemorates this young man on April 5th.