On 5 April 1992, in response to events all over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

100,000 people of all nationalities turned out for a peace rally in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

. Serb Democratic Party (SDS) snipers in the

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

in the heart of

opened fire on the crowd, killing six people and wounding several more. Suada Dilberović and an ethnic

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

woman Olga Sučić were in the first rows, protesting on the

Vrbanja bridge Suada and Olga Bridge ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Most Suade i Olge'' / Мост Суаде и Олге), also known by its old name Vrbanja Bridge (''Vrbanja most'' / Врбања мост) is a bridge across the Miljacka river in Saraj ...

at the time. The bridge on which Sučić and Dilberović were killed was later renamed in their honor. Six SDS snipers were arrested, but were exchanged when the SDS threatened to kill the commander of the Bosnian police academy who had been captured the previous day, after the Serb paramilitaries took over the academy and arrested him.

Storming of the parliament building

After the protesters had no other choice, they decided to storm into the parliament building where they founded the so-called "Narodni parliament" (''People's parliament''), and where they offered everybody to make a two-minute speech on what should be done next in solving the siege problem. Many famous Sarajevans spoke to the full parliament main hall. The president of the

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Република Босна и Херцеговина) was a state in Southeastern Europe, existing from 1992 to 1995. It is the direct lega ...

Alija Izetbegović Alija Izetbegović (; ; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, lawyer, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first president of the Presidency of the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

also appeared and presented himself, to the crowd, as more of a citizen rather than a president, which brought loud cheering and applause. This is despite the fact that, in February 1992, Alija claimed that " ewould sacrifice peace for a sovereign Bosnia-Herzegovina". The atmosphere was at its highest point when the commander of the Special forces unit of the Ministry of Interior, Dragan Vikić appeared and told the audience: "To arm against the Serbian aggression".

Legacy

It is disputed between Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs who the first casualties of the Bosnian War are. Bosniaks and Croats consider the first casualties of the war to be Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić. Serbs consider Nikola Gardović, a groom's father who was killed at a Serb wedding procession on the second day of the referendum, on 1 March 1992 in Sarajevo's old town

Baščaršija Baščaršija (Cyrillic: Башчаршија; ) is Sarajevo's old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Baščaršija was built in the 15th century when Isa-Beg Ishaković founded the city. Baščaršija is located on the n ...

, to be the first victim of the war. Testimony provided by former JNA General Aleksandar Vasiljević during the Slobodan Milosevic war crimes trial in The Hague contradicts the allegation that it was Serbian snipers who opened fire. The statements provided by Vasiljević turned out later to be false.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarajevo anti-war protests, 1992 1990s in Sarajevo 1992 in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992 protests Anti-war protests Bosnian War Breakup of Yugoslavia Protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Storming of the parliament building

Legacy

See also

References