Srđan Aleksić

Srđan Aleksić (Срђан Алексић; 9 May 1966 – 27 January 1993), nicknamed Srđo, was a Bosnian Serb amateur actor, prospective swimmer, and soldier in the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Bosnian War. He saw his neighbour, an ethnic Bosniak, being harassed by a group of VRS soldiers, whom he then tried to stop; the soldiers turned on Aleksić, beating him with their rifle butts until he fell into a coma. He died a week later at the hospital. He has received several posthumous awards for his act, viewed of as deeply heroic in a time of bloody war. A documentary about his life, Srđo, was made by RTS in 2007.

Early life
Aleksić was born in the municipality of Trebinje, then part of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. His father Rade was a basketball coach, and his mother Mira, from Prijedor, died at an early age. His brother died in a hang glider accident, above the Petrovo field, near Trebinje.

Aleksić received several awards as an amateur actor, and continued to act during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including in a play San ratne noći ("War night's dream"). He was also a prospective swimmer for Yugoslavia. During the Bosnian War, he was recruited into the Army of Republika Srpska (the Bosnian Serb Army).

Heroic act and death
On 21 January 1993 a group of four uniformed VRS soldiers forced Alen Glavović, an ethnic Bosniak, out of a café by the Freedom Square across the street from the police station, and started harassing and beating him. Glavović was the neighbour of Aleksić; he intervened and went towards them and shouted for them to stop, ending the attack. However, the four soldiers then turned against Aleksić and beat him severely with their rifle butts, leaving him falling into coma. Due to the incurred injuries, he died in the hospital on 27 January 1993. Srđan's father wrote in his obituary that "Srđan died carrying out his human duty" ("Umro je vršeći svoju ljudsku dužnost").

One of the attackers was killed during the war, whilst the other three were each sentenced to 28 months in prison. One of the defence lawyers of the attackers said while in court, "Served him right, defending a balija", the latter being a derogatory term for Bosnian Muslims. Alen Glavović, the friend that Srđan saved, survived and fled the war and today lives in Sweden, married with two children. Every year he visits Srđan's grave and Srđan's father with his family. Alen has said that it is his human and moral duty to visit his grave.

Doubt about the heroic act
Convicted for the death of Srđan Aleksić, they presented their version of events, indicating that it is possible that Srđan's death was actually just used for media purposes. One of the four soldiers who participated in this event gave a statement in 2011, which was confirmed by the Association of Fighters of the Republic of Srpska from Trebinje:

''That January 21, 1993. I and three others were returning home from the front after three months. While passing through the Trebinje market, we saw Glavović at the counter, whom we knew worked with smuggled goods for Aleksić, who escaped from the front a few months earlier. All sorts of things went through our heads then, in a moment of anger and helplessness, while we are bleeding and fighting for 3 months in the same pants, they are drinking coffee and smuggling around Trebinje. Outraged by the sight, we decide to take revenge on them in some way, approach the counter and decide to take one pair of jeans for ourselves, of course for free. However, at that moment, Srđan Aleksić, who was overseeing the work from a local bar drinking a beer, ran up to the counter. After the exchange of bad words, a physical confrontation ensued when one of Aleksić's colleagues hit him in the head with the butt of a rifle, after which he fell and hit his head on the concrete and never got up again. Therefore, Srđan Aleksić died defending his stall and smuggled goods and not some Alen Glavović, who was not even there at that moment, but ran away. After that we were arrested, then released again and sent to the front. One of the colleagues soon died on the line, while the three of us were later sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison, which we served.''

Legacy
In 2007 Radio Television of Serbia recorded and broadcast a documentary on Srđan Aleksić, named "SRĐO" (hypocoristic form of Srđan). The Trebinje theatre Slovo, which Aleksić himself had been member of, performed a memorial play, Epilog, about his life. In 2011, filming began for the film Circles (Krugovi), which was inspired by the heroic act of Srđan Aleksić and directed by Srđan Golubović. The Republic of Serbia awarded him the Golden Medal of Miloš Obilić in 2012. Srđan Aleksić was posthumously granted a Charter of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is an initiative in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska to officially honour him.

After his death, there has still not been any recognition of him in his home town. The local government of Trebinje still consider how to honor him in the right way, whether in form of a monument or a fountain (as of 2012). The former "Street of Great Trees" (ulica velikih drveta) in the Novi Grad municipality of Sarajevo was renamed after him, 15 years after his death, with the municipality saying "Without people like Srđan Aleksić and his heroic deeds, one would lose hope in humanity, and without it our life would have no meaning". A pass is named after him in Zmaj-Jovo's street in Novi Sad, which includes a memorial plaque, and a pass also bears his name in Pančevo.

On July 11, 2013 the Srdjan Aleksic Boulevard was opened near Pobrežje Park in Podgorica, Montenegro, a park dedicated to the civilian casualties of the Yugoslav Wars. A street in New Belgrade, Serbia was named after Srđan Aleksić in early 2016.

In 2013, the Post-Conflict Research Center, a Sarajevo-based NGO, launched its own Srđan Aleksić Youth Competition. The contest, which is run in several cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, aims to galvanize youths in the country, of all ethnic backgrounds, to share their own stories of inspiration and heroism. The goal is to keep the spirit of Srđan Aleksić alive in young Bosnians today.

Two movies have been produced on the life events of Srđan Aleksić: the 2012 documentary Srdjo, and the 2013 Serbian drama film Krugovi ("Circles"), which won several awards.