There is silence in front of the "Vladislav Ribnikar" elementary school. Only the patter of the rain can be heard under the umbrella. People greet each other with a slight nod of the head. It seems that every word spoken would release suppressed tears
Countless times I waited for my daughters in this place. The bell signals the end of classes, excited children's shouts reach Kralja Milutin from the building, children run out of the school with beaming faces.
This morning at 8.40 sirens sounded. At that time it was May 3rd. a year ago the child began to shoots at children in the "Vladislav Ribnikar" elementary school. The thirteen-year-old killed nine students and Dragan Vlahović. I didn't hear the church bells, although I kind of expected them.
There is silence in front of the school this morning. Only the patter of the rain can be heard under the umbrella. People greet each other with a slight nod of the head. It seems as if every word spoken would release suppressed tears.
People are waiting in line in front of the entrance to "Ribnikar" to write in the book of memories. I see familiar faces. Many are holding flowers in their hands. A group of teenagers with bewildered expressions are standing on the edge of this silent gathering. A woman with a dog walks past snarling, her eyes red from crying. Despondency flows through the crowd.
I recognize the faces of the parents of the murdered children. I feel weak in my legs when I think about what they are going through, not only today, but every day. I think of my daughters and I can no longer hold back the tears.
Blue scalameria
The entrance to the school is covered by a blue iron scalameri whose upper columns are carved with the names of the murdered children. I don't know what to think about that. It doesn't even matter.
The whole school is covered from the sidewalk to the roof by a white and blue tarp with white and blue silhouettes with wings that I think are supposed to represent angels. Like a curtain falling to cover the scene and mark the end of the tragedy. Only this tragedy has no end.
Something red can be seen behind the high blue fence blocking the view of the fatal entrance. Red, blue, white. Did someone want to insert the colors of the Serbian flag into this installation? Should that also arouse some patriotic feelings in this place?
Spring
I am looking at that beautiful street covered with dense green canopy that leads from Nemanjina to Tašmajdan. Trees have such a shade of green only in spring. I don't remember that on May 3, a year ago, I was even aware that it was spring. Time had stopped then.
These children were at home here, in this street, in Svetozara Markovića, Njegoševa, in the park where the church of St. Mark is located, in "Ribnikar". She felt safe there, it was from there that they should start their lives. It should have been.
Unwanted anger
I really didn't want to mention them on this occasion, but my colleague sent me the news that Vučić was here before the world gathered early this morning to lay flowers. Where was he on May 3 a year ago? And the following days? It was as if for him and them the space in front of the school filled with terrified people was enemy territory on which they must not step. They had organized some commemorations of their own, far from the eyes of the citizens of Belgrade.
I'm looking at the profile on my phone. the future of Serbia on Instagram, a photo of the president bowing in front of the photos of the murdered students and their school guard. That's fine. That's how it should be.
But then I remember the chatter of Vučić, Siniša Malog and Ana Brnabić on the same Instagram when they mocked the citizens who were brought to the streets by the death of our children. I remember all that inappropriate behavior of the highest state and city officials devoid of any empathy, those performances of the President of the Republic in which he emphasized only himself in the foreground in front of the shadows of the murdered children. Is it possible that this nation has forgotten all that? And forgave.
I'm getting angry, and I don't want that. I shake it off me.
Day after
Gloom fills me. I leave school, but the place moves after me. If I were a believer, I would go to St. Mark's Church and light candles for those dead children whose lives remained floating in the "Pond". And for his daughters.
But I didn't. The little I can do, which all Belgraders can do, is not to let the memory of those children disappear. And not only every year on May 3.
And no, of course I haven't forgotten what happened on May 4 in Mali Orašje and Dubona. The day after the tragedy, another tragedy took place. Tomorrow, all those feelings will come flooding back. So it is with anniversaries. They force us not to forget.
The request for disqualification of the prosecutor delayed the implementation of the order for the arrest of the legal representatives of the "Millennium Team". The case has now been taken over by the First Basic Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, which should continue the proceedings urgently
The tender for the construction of the mast at Ušće was suspended because no offer was received. In the city budget, only 5,4 million dinars are planned for this purpose, while no funds are planned for the next two years.
For 75 months of living in a 36-square-meter apartment in Dorćol, I spent 21.600 euros. For that money, I could buy five square meters in the Old Town at the moment, which has risen on average from 2.129 to 3.958 euros for old buildings.
Poštanska štedionica takes over the payment of insured deposits to clients of Alta Bank, whose license was revoked by the NBS, and individuals and certain legal entities will be able to withdraw money, up to a limit of EUR 50.000 per depositor.
On the EON platform, Informer TV was moved from the previous 11th place to the 402nd position, while at Telekom Srbija it is in the 130th place.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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