Trebinje, October 17th 2008
With great pleasure, coalitions of NGOs Gradjanska Vojvodina and Igman Initiative have welcomed the good news from the City’s Naming Committee for parts of settlements and public services. Our proposition to name a passageway in the city of Novi Sad after one of the very rare true heroes of past wars in ex-Yugoslavia- Srdjan Aleksic, was adopted.
We are proud because Novi Sad is the first city on ex-Yugoslav territory that recognizes the heroism of Srdjan Aleksic, which must not be forgotten and which continues to stand both as a symbol and a path to the cathartic enlightenment of one society, as well as a path to the normalization of relations and the renewal of friendship between countries and peoples of the region.
Srdjan Aleksic’s name is also a powerful symbol of the fight for values of living together, a symbol which is very important for Novi Sad as a city that was founded upon values of diversity, tolerance and coexistence. Naming this passageway after Srdjan Aleksic’s name is a strong message to the citizens of not only Novi Sad, but whole Vojvodina and Serbia, saying that no one can be exiled or discriminated in any way because of confessional, racial, national or any other affiliation.
We are convinced that the example of Novi Sad will be followed by other cities of ex Yugoslavia.
Let us remember that Srdjan Aleksic was murdered by four uniformed members of the Army of Republica Srpska, because he stood up against their intention to kill a Bosniac national Alen Glavovic. They assaulted him and beat him up with their gunstocks. Injuries lead to a coma and six days later, Srdjan Aleksic died on January 27th 1993. One of the four assailants was killed few months later, while other three were sentenced to two years and four months of imprisonment (!?). Today, Alen Glavovic lives in Sweden and regularly visits Srdjan Aleksics’s final resting place, each year. Srdjan Aleksic was also a junior record holder in swimming sports and a member of the amateur theater. He was one of the most favorite citizens of Trebinje.
This year’s January 27th marks fifteen years after the brutal murder of Srdjan Aleksic.
“Građanska Vojvodina”
Igman Initiative