|
  In a ceremony held in Sarajevo on February 23, NGO Gariwo awarded the Dusko Kondor Civil Courage Award for 2010 to six brave individuals who risked their own lives by standing up to negative authorities and acting according to their own values. The award commemorates an uncompromising champion of civil courage, who was assassinated in his own home in Bijeljina on the 22nd of February 2007 and whose name has become a symbol of civil courage.
Based on the received proposals, the Commission for The Dusko Kondor Awards for Civil Courage and Affirmation of Civil Courage agreed to grant the Awards for 2010 to:
-
Krstan Bijeljac for civil courage
-
Esad Alic (posthumously) for civil courage
-
Slobodan Pejovic for civil courage
-
Srdjan Aleksic (posthumously) for civil courage
-
Miomir Mile Plakalovic for civil courage
-
Amela Dudic for affirmation of civil courage
On behalf of NGO Gariwo, Svetlana Broz took the opportunity to thank all the integral people and institutions that were responsible for the succesful realisation of the event, particularly the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the city of Sarajevo for sponsoring this event (read speech here).
In their speeches, H.E. Jan Braathu Ambassador of Kingdom of Norway (read speech here) , Mr. Uwe Kitzinger, CBE, Chairman of the Gariwo International Board, Founding President of Templeton College, Oxford (read speech here), Mr. Miroslav Zivanovic, Deputy Mayor of Sarajevo gave their support and emphasized the importance of having such awards (read speech here).
The ceremony was attended by numerous members of the diplomatic corp, including H.E. Ms. Maryse Berniau, Ambassador of the Republic of France in B&H, H.E. Mr. Zulkifli Adnan, Ambassador of Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Ahmed El Sayed Khattab, Ambassador of Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Predrag Arsovic, Deputy Ambassador of Monte Negro, Mr. Edvard Kopusar, Deputy Ambassador of Slovenia; by many esteemed religious representatives and distinguish professors and journalists from Monte Negro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as politicians and NGO sector representatives and high school and university students from Zenica and Sarajevo.
 
 Krstan Bijeljac, born in 1916, an orthodox priest who joined the antifascist movement in 1941 and received the Partisan Memorial Award of 1941. He is the only living representative of the Serb people on the territory of the Federation of BH who was a delegate at the historic first session of ZAVNOBiH in Mrkonjic Grad. After the Second World War he worked for the Red Cross, the Socialist Union and other institutions. He retired in 1980s.
The Dusko Kondor Civil Courage Award is given to Krstan Bijeljac because, although he was aware of the risk:
-
He stayed in Sarajevo which was under siege by units of the Army of Republika Srpska
-
In the absence of active orthodox priests, who had deliberately decided to leave the city at the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo, he decided to return to his priest's calling, wear a priest's habit and hold masses in the Old Orthodox Church of Sarajevo
-
During the siege he went all over the city, risking his life to share the fate of his congregation and that of all his fellow citizens,
-
He proved his civil courage by defying all negative authorities of that time, first those of his own ethnic and religious group, and then others who disapproved of his fight for the shared social values of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and proving that multicultural life is possible
- Krstan Bijeljac is a pioneer in the protection of human rights. He has been supporting them tirelessly for 69 years already, saying: "Today, many things are different, this is some new time, some new people... However, I have already said that people are unimportant, only the facts are important. Mrkonjic Grad, the session of ZAVNOBiH which set the foundation for BiH – these are the facts. Since then, we have become a state which, regardless how much denied by some people, no one will ever be able to dissolve. People will not allow it, whatever these politicians try and say".
Due to serious health problems that prevented Mr. Krstan Bijeljac from attending the Ceremony, fra Marko Orsolic accepted the award on his behalf .
 Esad Alic, born in 1972 in Derventa. He was a craftsman, a construction worker. He died in Kobas near Srbac on 10.09.2008.
The Dusko Kondor Civil Courage Award is given to Esad Alic posthumously because:
- He willingly sacrificed his life to save the life of Asim Roso, his wife Mihreta and their two children: nine-year old daughter Serifa and seven-years-old son Mevludin
-
He expressed his civil courage when on 10 September 2008, about 10 pm, he was sitting at the table in cafée "Truba" in Kobas with 36-year-old Asim Roso, a 100% invalid since 2000, when, during de-mining activities in Orasje, he stepped on a mine and lost both legs to his hips. The moment he saw Zoran Safin, enter the cafe and throw a hand grenade which rolled under the wheelchair of Asim Roso, Esad yelled to Asim's wife: "Take care of the kids!" and rushed to the grenade, pushing Asim's wheelchair aside. When Esad threw himself on the hand grenade, it exploded and blew him to pieces. Esad Alic was killed instantly. Asim, his wife and children were only slightly injured by shrapnel. Esad Alic was survived by his son Kenan, born in Derventa on 1997.
 Slobodan Pejovic, born on 04.10.1948, in Đakovica (Kosovo). He worked as a detective inspector in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. Retired in 1993. Married, father of three daughters. Lives in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.
The Dusko Kondor Civil Courage Award is given to Slobodan Pejovic, because he expressed his civil courage as detective inspector in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Herceg Novi, although he was aware of the risks:
- In 1991, disobeying the superior authorities when they wanted to mobilize him and send him to the front line in Croatia
- In spring 1992, disobeying the authorities' order to arrest all Moslem refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina sheltering in Montenegro and hand them over to the forces of Radovan Karadzic in BH
- In spring 1992, he saved the life of at least two Moslems (Bosniacs) by helping them to escape from the police station in Herceg Novi
- Due to his continued opposition to the negative authorities, after the failed attempt of assassination, Slobodan Pejovic was suddenly retired in 1993, but that did not stop him to continue expressing civil courage after the end of the war in BH, testifying to the truth about the fate of a dozen Moslems arrested in Montenegro who were murdered after they had been handed over to the forces of Radovan Karadzic in BH
- With all his acts, he exposed himself to the conviction of the environment in which he lived and worked that he is a "traitor" and his family was subject to public contempt
- In the last few years, Slobodan Pejovic has been expressing his civil courage also as the main prosecution witness in the case initiated by the State Prosecutor of Montenegro against the highest-ranking officials of the Montenegro Ministry of Internal Affairs, who are indicted for issuing orders on arrest and handover of Moslems to the forces of Radovan Karadzic in 1992 and thereby causing the death of dozens of innocent people. This testimony, as well as his frequent public appearances in which he speaks clearly, unequivocally and convincingly about the biggest crime in Montenegro, exposed him to other problems - from physical assaults, through demolition of his car and death threats to being deprived of identification documents and thereby of the right to free movement.
 Srdjan Aleksic, born in Trebinje on 1966. He was a law student, and in the war a soldier of the RS Army. He was wounded on January 21, 1993 at the marketplace in Trebinje, and died six days later, on 27.01.1993, in the hospital in Trebinje. The Dusko Kondor Civil Courage Award is given to Srdjan Aleksic posthumously, because, although he was aware of the risk, he sacrificed his life to save the life of Alen Glavovic, his fellow citizen, a Bosniak (Moslem) persecuted for his ethnicity.
- He proved his civil courage on 21 January 1993, when he protected Alen Glavovic, Bosniac, who was stopped by a group of soldiers of the RS Army at the marketplace in Trebinje and asked for an ID card. After they established that he was a Bosniac, they started beating and harassing him. Srdjan Aleksic stood up against the criminals, defended Glavovic, telling him to run away, which he did, while the four soldiers brutally beat Srdjan with their guns instead of Glavovic. As a result of the beating, Srdjan fell into coma, and died on January 27, 1993. Srdjan's father wrote in eulogy: "He died performing his human duty".
Alen Glavovic, who was saved by Srdjan Aleksic lives in Sweden, is married and has two children.
 Milomir Mile Plakalovic, born in Sarajevo on 1952, who worked as a taxi driver.
The Dusko Kondor Civil Courage Award is given to Milomir Mile Plakalovic because, although aware the risk, he proved his civil courage:
- By bravely spending every day with no exception on the streets of Sarajevo besieged for 1440 days, collecting the wounded and transporting them to hospitals, under fire from sniper rifles and shrapnel from hand grenades, thus saving the lives of dozens of wounded fellow citizens of Sarajevo, including many children.
- He risked his life every day in his taxi, asking nothing but where they were heading.
 Amela Dudic, born in Zenica in 1988. student of Economics, unemployed, single.
The Dusko Kondor Award for Affirmation of Civil Courage is given to Amela Dudic because, although aware of the risk, she had the courage, in the patriarchal society of Bosnia and Herzegovina to stand up publicly against sexual harassment.
- In August 2009, she published video and sound recordings on her mobile phone of a monologue by her boss, the President of the Association of Soldiers of the Federation of BiH in Zenica, in which he offered her benefits for sexual favors
- Her report of the incident and the recording itself were published in all the media including TV and provoked a variety of comments from the BH public, very few of them supportive of her action.
- As a result of her bravery she was criticized and despised by sections of the public and lost her job, which was the price she paid for her civil courage.
- Her example of civil courage contributes significantly to the education of women who are one of the groups most vulnerable in BH society.
  
|
