Sitting behind the glass and facing the past
Ratko Mladić’s trial is finally over, but Bosnia and Herzegovina still has open wounds.
None of the direct perpetrators have been tried in connection with keeping people living in Sarajevo under siege and terrorizing them on a daily basis.
During much of the year and a half I spent monitoring the trial, I was sitting on my own in the public gallery.
By the time he was brought to the courtroom, much of the hope invested by Bosnian people in retributive justice had been replaced with disappointment.
It was reminiscent of the old tickets for the cinema or theater, and required by everyone wanting to enter the public viewing area.
I was taken on my own traumatic journey as I watched the person who commanded the forces that shot at me testify about the events in a way that differed entirely from what I survived.
Gorana Mlinarevic
Gorana Mlinarević is an independent researcher. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the prosecution of wartime sexual violence and war and post-war issues and experiences affecting women. She often explores intersections and tensions between identity politics and economic and social realities of the post-war societies.
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