Murder Of Dušan Jovanović
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Dušan Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Душан Јовановић) was a 13-year-old ethnic Romani boy from
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
,
FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
, who was murdered on 18 October 1997 by two 17-year-old
skinheads A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...
. He was beaten to death on Beogradska Street in downtown Belgrade while walking to a grocery store. The murder was motivated solely by his Romani origin.


Childhood

Dušan Jovanović was born to a
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...
family on 1 August 1983, in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, where he lived with his parents, Milica and Aleksandar, and his sister, Duška. He attended the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School and was remembered as a quiet, gentle boy with a love for music and drawing, signing his works as "Dux." Dušan was excited to become an uncle as his sister was pregnant in 1997 and hoped the baby would be named Kristina if it were a girl. According to the family, on the day of his murder, Dušan had spent time with his grandfather in
Mirijevo Mirijevo ( sr-cyrl, Миријево, ) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Zvezdara. One of the largest single neighborhoods in Europe, consists of several sub-n ...
, fishing and playing basketball. Upon returning home, at around nine o'clock in the evening, he asked for permission to go to a nearby store to buy Coca-Cola to accompany a planned evening of watching wrestling on television. He feared encounters with local skinheads, who were known to gather near his home.


Murder

On October 18, 1997, Jovanović encountered a group of
skinheads A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...
near the store. They initially demanded money, then brutally attacked him, knocking him to the ground, kicking him, and striking him with a piece of guttering until his neck was broken. Passersby did not intervene. Four skinheads reportedly then fled in the direction of
Slavija Square Slavija Square ( sr-cyr, Трг Славија, Trg Slavija) is a major commercial junction between the intersections of Kralja Milana, Beogradska, Makenzijeva, Svetosavska, Bulevar oslobođenja, Deligradska and Nemanjina streets in Belgrade. The ...
. Jovanović's body was found by two girls who alerted the police. His father, concerned when Dušan did not return home, discovered his lifeless body shortly thereafter.


Aftermath

Following Dušan's murder, his family relocated to Marinkova Bara, where they spent the next year and a half, and then to Orlovsko Naselje in Mirijevo. His mother attempted suicide multiple times before her death by suicide in 2015, and his father died in 2016 after prolonged health issues, including the amputation of both legs. Following their parents' deaths, Duška moved to Sweden with her son Dušan and her younger sister, Kristina, who was born three years after Dušan's murder.


Trial

Two 17-year-olds, Milan Čujić and Ištvan Fendrik, were arrested and convicted of Jovanović's murder. The defendants claimed they were intoxicated and had not intended to kill him, only to beat him as they had done to others before. They were sentenced to ten years in a
juvenile correctional facility In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile dete ...
. Due to
amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...
, their sentence was reduced by 18 months, and by a special decision of the Belgrade District Court, their sentence was further reduced. They were incarcerated at the Correctional Facility for Minors in
Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...
. Fendrik was released on 1 April 2004 and Čujić on 30 April.


Commemoration

Two memorial plaques mark the site of Jovanović's murder, one installed by his parents and another by the Roma Union of Serbia in 2007, unveiled by then-
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Boris Tadić Boris Tadić, (born 15 January 1958) is a Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2004 to 2012. Born in Sarajevo, he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in psychology. He later worked as a journalist ...
. In 2022, an initiative was launched to name a park at Slavija Square after him, supported by local activists, his former classmates, and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. Although unresolved property issues delayed formal recognition, a symbolic plaque was placed in 2022, and the proposal remains under consideration. In 2022, with support from A 11 - Initiative for Social and Economic Rights, Duška Jovanović proposed renaming the park at Slavija, informally known as Mitićeva Rupa, in honor of Dušan Jovanović. The initiative, backed by Dušan's former classmates and the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, included placing a symbolic plaque in the park on 18 October. By 2023, the Commission for Monuments and Names of Squares and Streets of Belgrade had not formalized the proposal, citing unresolved property issues, as part of the park is privately owned. A revised proposal in September 2023 focused on the publicly owned section. The initiative was supported by Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue,
Tomislav Žigmanov Tomislav Žigmanov ( sr-Cyrl, Томислав Жигманов; born 12 April 1967) is a Serbian author, community leader, and politician from the country's Croats of Serbia, Croat community. He has led the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojv ...
, who also laid flowers at Dušan's former home during the 26th-anniversary commemoration. Each year, a memorial football tournament honoring Jovanović takes place in Mirijevo, with ongoing support from the Zvezdara Municipality. Ahead of the 26th anniversary of his murder in 2023, a
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
featuring his image and the inscription "We remember Dušan! (1.8.1983 – 18.10.1997.)" was created in Mirijevo.


See also

* Roma people in Serbia *
Anti-Romani sentiment Anti-Romani sentiment (also called antigypsyism, anti-Romanyism, antiziganism, ziganophobia, or Romaphobia) is an ideology which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism, and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani ...
* 2008–2009 neo-Nazi murders of Roma in Hungary * Dragan Maksimović – Serbian actor fatally attacked in Belgrade in 2000, mistaken for being Romani


References


External links

* Movie "Dušan", Bojan Bosiljčić, RTS, 1997. ** * Movie "Oči u oči" ye to Eye Jelena Zrnić, Free Zone Junior, 2021. * Book "Oni su ubili njegove oči" hey Killed His Eyes Dragoljub Acković, 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Dusan 1997 in Serbia 1997 murders in Serbia October 1997 in Europe Child murder in Serbia Deaths by beating in Europe 1997 deaths Hate crimes in Europe People murdered in Serbia October 1997 crimes Racism Nationalism Antiziganism in Serbia