Tribute to a modern-day hero

25/08/2009

Serbia's second largest city honours a brave and loyal friend.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 25/08/09

Novi Sad is a city that treasures its long-standing tradition of freedom. [Getty Images]

A ceremony was held late last month to introduce a new passageway, linking two streets in Novi Sad, called Srdjan Aleksic, in memory of a 27-year-old Bosnian Serb who gave his life during the 1992-1995 conflict to protect his Muslim friend.

The passageway is close to several cafes, which are popular among local youth.

Novi Sad Assembly Speaker Aleksandar Jovanovic said Aleksic promoted values that the people of Novi Sad also support.

"Srdjan made it clear that values such as tolerance, understanding differences, co-habitation … are, in fact, elements of civilisation that are not bound by space or time."

There is also a street in Sarajevo named after Aleksic. According to Sarajevo authorities, "Without people like [him] and his heroic deeds, men would lose hope in humanity and without it, our life would be meaningless."

Aleksic set a swimming record for juniors in the former Yugoslavia and was an amateur theatre actor. On January 21st 1993, he was serving in the Bosnian Serb army in the town of Trebinje when he witnessed four fellow soldiers arresting his friend, Alen Glavovic, and then beating Glavovic for being a Bosniak.

Aleksic raced to protect his friend, only to incur the wrath of the four soldiers. They began beating Aleksic with their rifles. Badly injured, he slipped into a coma and later died. His friend Glavovic managed to escape.

Of the four assailants, one was killed in combat, while the remaining three were later sentenced to just two years and four months in prison each.

Today, Glavovic lives in Sweden and visits Aleksic's grave in Trebinje every year.

Aleksic's father attended the ceremony in Novi Sad, and in a speech, said he hopes young people "see Srdjan as a symbol of kindness".

He encouraged others to seek friends in life, "somebody that you can always rely on, in good times or in bad … That is what Srdjan was like."

Aleksic posthumously received the Charter of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nearly 120 NGOs proposed that towns in the region name one of their streets after the brave young man.

Aleksic's obituary read, "He died carrying out his duty as a human being."