Emir Suljagić
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Emir Suljagić (born 21 May 1975) is a Bosnian journalist and politician who is currently the Manager of the
Srebrenica Genocide Memorial The Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, officially known as the Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide, is the memorial-cemetery complex in Srebrenica set up to honour the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massac ...
. He served as Minister of Education of
Sarajevo Canton The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo (; ; ), is one of the ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its cantonal seat is the city of Sarajevo, also the capital city of Bosnia and Herzeg ...
from 13 January 2011 until 29 February 2012 and was also
Deputy minister Deputy minister is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. A deputy minister is positioned in some way "under" a minister, who is a full member of Cabinet, in charge of a particular sta ...
of Defense from 31 March 2015 to 10 December 2015. Suljagić is most known for his work in advocating for the rights of survivors of the
Srebrenica genocide The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by units ...
. His book, '' Postcards from the Grave,'' is the first account of the genocide to be published in English by a Bosnian who lived through it and has, so far been translated into nine world languages.


Early life and education

Emir Suljagić was born on 21 May 1975 in
Ljubovija Ljubovija ( sr-cyr, Љубовија, ) is a small town and municipality located in the Mačva District The Mačva District (, ) is one of administrative districts of Serbia. It lies in the western part of Serbia, in the geographical regions o ...
,
SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...
,
SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. During the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
, he was a refugee. Suljagić was 17 years old when his family fled the ethnic cleansing of the Drina valley in 1992 and took refuge in
Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War in 1995, Srebr ...
. He taught himself English and became an interpreter for the United Nations (UN) forces stationed in the town. It was thanks to his employment as a UN interpreter that Suljagić survived the mass execution of the men and boys of the enclave that followed the fall of the town. After the war, Suljagić attended the
University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...
, where he studied political science. He later obtained an MA Degree in Democracy and Human Rights from the University of Sarajevo and the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
(2005) and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Studies, the
University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...
(2010).


Political activism

In 2006, Suljagić was elected as an advisor to the
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina The chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian/ Croatian: ''Predsjedavajući Vijeća ministara Bosne i Hercegovine'', ) is the head of the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The chairman of the Council of Minis ...
,
Adnan Terzić Adnan Terzić (born 5 April 1960) is a Bosnian politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2007. He was a longtime member of the Party of Democratic Action, until he left it to join the U ...
, where he designed and implemented the communication strategy for the office of the Prime Minister, supervised the PR staff and served as the key
spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...
and media contact. Following this, from 2009 – 2011, Suljagić served as the Director of Communications of the Office of Mayor of Sarajevo where he successfully conducted negotiations between Office of the Mayor and
Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...
on the sale of the city-owned frequency and launch of
Al Jazeera Balkans Al Jazeera Balkans (AJB) is an international news television station headquartered in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina aimed at the media markets of the countries that used to be constituent units of SFR Yugoslavia. It is part of the Al Jazeer ...
based in
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
. During 2010, Suljagić was the Head of Communications for the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
(SDP) of BiH where he spearheaded the development of messaging and strategy for the SDP's winning campaign during the 2010 parliamentary and presidential elections, doubling the number of votes since 2006 and leading to the biggest election victory in SDP's century-long history. In the 2010 parliamentary and presidential elections, Suljagić won a ministry seat and became the Minister of Education in the Government of the
Sarajevo Canton The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo (; ; ), is one of the ten cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its cantonal seat is the city of Sarajevo, also the capital city of Bosnia and Herzeg ...
. During his active mandate (2011 – 2012), Suljagić was directly responsible for 10,000 employees of the Ministry and an annual budget of 120 million Euros. He introduced centralized financial management into the public pre-school system of Canton Sarajevo and pursued a new policy of inclusive education for Roma and children with disabilities. In addition to this, Suljagić was elected as th
Deputy Defense Minister
in the Council of Ministers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015. Between 2012 and 2014, Suljagić founded and coordinated two separate political initiatives, the ''Vote for Srebrenica
nowiki>'' and the ''1 March Coalition
nowiki>''
. The ''Vote for Srebrenica'' campaign successfully negotiated the candidacy of a joint candidate by four different pro-Bosnian parties for mayor in the 2012 local elections in Srebrenica, thus preserving the voice of the Bosniak minority in Srebrenica. The ''1 March Coalition'' is the largest post-war network of survivors, refugees, internally displaced persons, and civic organizations with the goal of voter registration in their pre-war places of residence. In 2022, Suljagić voiced support for
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
in the
Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...
, and drew comparisons with Bosnia's plight in the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
. In contrast, Suljagić attracted criticism for his refusal to comment on the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, which he argued that "this is not our battle" and that he will not use the work of the
Srebrenica Genocide Memorial The Srebrenica Genocide Memorial, officially known as the Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims of the 1995 Genocide, is the memorial-cemetery complex in Srebrenica set up to honour the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massac ...
"at the altar of whatever Hamas's agenda is".


Journalism and academic career

Suljagić's first journalistic role was as a reporter, investigative reporter, and editor in the leading Bosnian weekly news-magazine, ''Dani
, where he covered a wide range of issues, from corruption to war-crimes and received ''
'' in 1999. From 2002-2004, Suljagić reported from the
International criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
(ICTY) in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
for the
Institute for War and Peace Reporting The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is an independent nonprofit organization that trains and provide publishing opportunities for professional and citizen journalists. IWPR is registered in the UK as a charity (charity reg. no: 1027201, ...
(IWPR). He was the first journalist to publish evidence of direct participation of
Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
’s regime in the Srebrenica genocide. In 2010, Suljagić received the
Dayton Literary Peace Prize The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is an annual United States literary award "recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace" that was first awarded in 2006. Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point ...
- the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace. Suljagić has given interviews and provided commentaries on a range of issues from his area of expertise, including
genocide denial Genocide denial is the attempt to deny or minimize the scale and severity of an instance of genocide. Denial is an integral part of genocide and includes the secret planning of genocide, propaganda while the genocide is going on, and destruction ...
, post-conflict recovery, and
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
to many national and international media outlets including the
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
, Al Jazeera
BBC
Die Presse (, ) is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeois newspaper within the ...
,
Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...
, Suddeeutsche Zeitung, El Pais, TRT,
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
, FTV BiH, Federalni Radio, NTV Hayat, Face TV, TV1, HRT, and BIRN. In 2017, he started teaching at the
International University of Sarajevo The International University of Sarajevo (IUS) is a private university located in the capital city Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The university was established by the Foundation for the Development of Education in 2004–2005. IUS is open to ...
and in 2019 served as the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Administration. Currently, he teaches
genocide studies Genocide studies is an academic field of study that researches genocide. Genocide became a field of study in the mid-1940s, with the work of Raphael Lemkin, who coined ''genocide'' and started genocide research, and its primary subjects were the ...
and
security studies __NOTOC__ Security studies, also known as international security studies, is an academic sub-field within the wider discipline of international relations that studies organized violence, military conflict, national security, and international s ...
courses at the International University of Sarajevo as
adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...
. In 2007, as a survivor, Suljagić joined the project ‘‘Personal stories of the Victims for the Permanent Exhibition of Memorial Room of Memorial Center Srebrenica-Potočari’’ and was actively engaged the work of the Memorial Center since then. Most recently, Suljagić was appointed the Director of the Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Center.


Personal life

After his marriage to Behija Selimović had ended some time in early 2010s, Emir married Aida Bjelopoljak, a
Kakanj Kakanj ( sr-cyrl, Какањ) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the Europe's oldest continuously inhabitted settlement. As of 2013, ...
-born Sarajevo gynecologist, in 2023. Their daughter was born in 2020.


Publications


Refereed publications


Books

Emir Suljagić. Ethnic Cleansing: Politics, Policy, Violence - Serb Ethnic Cleansing Campaign in former Yugoslavia, Nomos Publishers, Berlin, 2010


Book chapters

Emir Suljagić. ''Justice squandered? The trial of Slobodan Milošević“ in Ellen E. Lutz and Caitlin Reiger (eds) Prosecuting Heads of State, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009


Articles

Emir Suljagić. “Premošćavanje jaza između države i društva: Krizni štab kao ključni mehanizam etničkog čišćenja”, Pregled, No. 1, Vol. LVII, 2017 Emir Suljagić. ''The Role of Croatia in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Antemurale Christianitatis as a Policy of Choice“, Insight Turkey, 2019 Spring, Vol. 21 / No. 2 / 2019 Emir Suljagić. „Logori i prakse u logorima kao sastavni dio strategije etničkog čišćenja: moralni napad na žrtve“, Pregled, No. 3, Vol. LIX, 2018


Policy Brief

Emir Suljagić, Reuf Bajrović and Richard Kraemer, ''Bosnia on the Russian Chopping Block: The Potential for Violence and Steps to Prevent it'', Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia, 2018


Non-refereed publications


Books

Emir Suljagić
Postcards from the Grave
Bosnian (DANI, Sarajevo, 2005), Croatian (Dureieux, Zagreb, 2005), English (Saqi Books, London, 2005), Dutch (Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam, 2006), Spanish (Gutenberg Galaxica Barcelona, 2007), Polish (Wydawnictwo Czarne, Warszawa, 2007), German (Czolnay, Vienna, 2009); Italian (Beit Casa Editrice, Trieste, 2010); Norwegian (Capellen Damm, 2010); Persian (Ketabestan, 2018) Emir Suljagić
''Samouk'', Sarajevo, Buybook, 2014
Emir Suljagić. ''Srebrenica MCMXCV'', Vrijeme, Zenica, 2017


Articles

Emir Suljagić. Srebrenica – Remembering the Future, Vaclav Havel, Madeleine Albright, Marieluise Beck, Chris Keulemans, Slavenka Drakulic und Susan Sontag, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Sarajevo, 2005 Emir Suljagić. “Letter to a Serb friend”, in Srebrenica – from denial to recognition, Ed. Sonja Biserko, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Belgrade, 2005 Emir Suljagić. ''The Line that Stretches from Srebrenica to Homs'', Transitions Online, 2 March 2012 Emir Suljagić. ''Bosnia: Heading Towards Institutional Gridlock?”, The Centre on Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia, Italian Institute for International Political Studies; 16 May 2018
Emir Suljagić. “Targeting ‘Turks’: How Karadzic Laid the Foundations for Genocide”, Balkan Insight, April 15, 2019


Newspaper Op/Eds

Emir Suljagić. ʺTruth at The Hagueʺ, New York Times, 1 June 2003 Emir Suljagić. ʺHolding Serbia accountableʺ, Boston Globe, 4 March 2007 Emir Suljagić. ʺBosnia and Herzegovina is Andalusia in the Makingʺ, Al Jazeera, 1 September 2018 Emir Suljagić. ʺNew Srebrenica 'investigation' will deny the reality of genocideʺ, Middle East Eye, 17 March 2019


Research reports

Emir Suljagić. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Key Obstacles to the Stabilization and Democratization, „Basic Instinct - The Case for More NATO In The Western Balkans“, Center For Euro-Atlantic Studies of Serbia, September 2017 Emir Suljagić. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: THE STATE OF FROZEN PEACE (Possibility of Renewal of Large-scale Violence in Short and Medium Term), June 2009 (Commissioned by the United Kingdom Department for International Development)


References


Further reading


Review of "Postcards from the Grave" by Tim Judah, Observer, 3.7.2005''1995: Srebrenica - a survivor's story'' by BBC.
* ttps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/662401980 Emir Suljagić, 2010, Ethnic Cleansing: Politics, Policy, Violence - Serb Ethnic Cleansing Campaign in former Yugoslavia, Nomos Publishers, Berlinbr>Emir Suljagić, Reuf Bajrović and Richard Kraemer, 2018, ‘Bosnia on the Russian Chopping Block: The Potential for Violence and Steps to Prevent it’ Foreign Policy Research Institute, PhiladelphiaPostcards from the Grave by Emir Suljagić. Saqi Books. July 2005,,Samouk''. Emir Suljagić. BuyBook Sarajevo. 2014.

Srebrenica MCMXCV, Vrijeme, Zenica, 2017

Emir Suljagić, “Targeting ‘Turks’: How Karadzic Laid the Foundations for Genocide”, Balkan Insight, April 15, 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suljagic, Emir 1975 births Living people People from Ljubovija Bosniak politicians Bosniak writers People of the Bosnian War University of Hamburg alumni