Siniša Glavašević (4 November 1960 – 20 November 1991Vukovarske novine: Sjećanja ratnih novinarki legendarnoga Hrvatskog radija Vukovar
; retrieved 23 December 2011.) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

n reporter who was killed by

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

paramilitaries following the

Battle of Vukovar The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroq ...

.Croatia: Amnesty International Calls for Justice for Siniša Glavašević and Other Victims of Unlawful Execution in Vukovar
; retrieved 23 December 2011.

Early life

A native of

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

, Glavašević finished primary school there and entered the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest ...

, where he graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature. During the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yug ...

, he was chief editor of Radio Vukovar.

War

During the Battle of Vukovar, Glavašević was regularly reporting from the besieged city. He is particularly remembered for a series of stories he had read to the listeners, that talked about basic human values. On 16 October 1991, Glavašević said on

Croatian Radio Croatian Radio ( hr, Hrvatski radio) is the official broadcasting service of Croatia. Founded on May 15, 1926 as ''Zagreb Radio'', it's the first radio station in all of Southeast Europe. Part of Croatian Radiotelevision, it operates three nation ...

: On 18 November 1991, Glavašević sent in his last report, which ended with:

Death

Glavašević disappeared shortly after this last report. He had been beaten and executed by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

n paramilitary forces, along with hundreds of others between 18–20 November. In 1997, his body was exhumed from a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

in a nearby farm in Ovčara. He was 31 years old. Both Glavašević and fellow journalist , a native of Ovčara, were featured cases in Amnesty International's 1993-94 ''Campaign Against Disappearances and Political Killings''. Polovina’s funeral was held in Zagreb on 11 March 1997.

Legacy

In 1992, Matica hrvatska printed ''Stories from Vukovar'' ( hr, Priče iz Vukovara), a collection of stories by Glavašević. English translation of the collection was published in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glavasevic, Sinisa 1960 births 1991 deaths People from Vukovar Assassinated Croatian journalists Civilians killed in the Croatian War of Independence Journalists killed while covering the Yugoslav Wars People murdered in Croatia Deaths by firearm in Croatia University of Sarajevo alumni Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery 20th-century journalists