Serbia had to stop then because it was the last chance for society to make a breakthrough

It will soon be one year since the mass murders that took place on May 3 and 4, 2023, at the “Vladislav Ribnikar” Elementary School and the villages of Malo Orašje and Dubona, when 19 lives were lost and 18 were wounded. Serbia had to stop then because it was the last chance for society to make a breakthrough, said Ninela Radićević and Milanka Negić, the mothers of the murdered girls Ana Božović and Sofija Negić, at the “School for all of us” forum in Novi Sad, reports N1.

“The third of May was society’s last chance to make a breakthrough, to be above politics.” That May 3, everyone in the country had to stop and say – wait, we have come to a situation where our children are being killed at school. Everyone had to raise their voice and say – they can’t! My Anna was killed because she was on duty, and Sofia because she ran out of the gymnasium to see what was happening. Both happened to be there, and unfortunately it could happen to any child. And that’s why Serbia had to stop, everything had to stop, for that energy to be felt, for the government to feel it and to realize that it can’t continue like this,” said Ninela Radićević, the mother of the murdered Ana Božović.

Maybe May 4 would not happen

She also stated that the mass murder that happened just a day later on May 4 in the villages of Dubona and Malo Orašje might not have happened under other circumstances.

“I believe that the mass murder in the villages of Dubona and Malo Orasje would not have happened if there had been a real reaction on May 3.” As parents, we watched only a few days later as the children returned to the same school, and the parents told themselves that everything would be fine. How will everything be okay? By cleaning up the blood from the corridor, so what are we talking about. And we heard that from the parents of the children who were with Anna and Sofia in the class. Those parents who sent their children to school on May 10 made the biggest mistake about their children. I think it’s parental. Even now, there is no talk about the consequences of that quick return to school and creating an atmosphere as if nothing had happened. That atmosphere comes from politics, but we citizens had to say no, it happened, nothing is the same and cannot be the same,” said Ninela Radičević.

The opposite of what was supposed to happen happened

Milanka Negić, the mother of murdered Sofija Negić in Ribnikar, says that nothing has changed in society since last year’s tragedy.

“A year after the third of May, it’s hard for me to remember that any progress has taken place.” One thing happened at the end of the school year. We felt that all the children had suffered in some way, and we had the idea to start various associations, societies, cult institutions so that the children would be taken care of until June 20 and the end of the school year. We wanted the children to be moved out of that space, to hug them, to let them express themselves or cry, whatever it takes. That the focus should be on them over the summer, but nothing happened. “What happened is that the divisions that already existed deepened, new divisions arose, both among the parents in Ribnikar and in the wider society,” said Milanka Negić.

She pointed out that everything happened exactly the opposite of what should have happened.

“It’s devastating, and a lot has been missed.” All the children are traumatized and the only correct decision was to move them to another area, because the scene of the crime, the darkness and the atmosphere around that area are not healthy for the children. The atmosphere in that school is not good even now, there are 960 children who will be members of our society tomorrow. “It’s not fair that parents are allowed to hang out, the state should have reacted and made a decision,” said Negić.

It is all a product of society

“It was missed to raise the issue of responsibility, not criminal and civil, but human, of each individual.” Not all of us made a breakthrough. When something like that happens, it’s human to think, analyze yourself and get moving because we are all somehow responsible for the fact that something like this happened. In Dubona and Mali Orašje, the circumstances were different than in Ribnikar, but all this is a product of society. We did not open a single topic as a society. The media also missed the chance, there were no tribunes, no round tables,” said Sofia’s mother, Milanka Negić.

Now, as the anniversary approaches, she said, “we can’t defend ourselves from journalists, they ask us where we are after a year.”

“There are also media that have come up with the idea of ​​making shows about our children, about Dragan… I don’t understand.” It’s been 12 months, no one has come up with anything better, they are calling us to come and talk about what we want now. No one has come up with anything that would be done continuously because I think it is important, not for me personally, I will carry my child with me as long as I am alive, but I think it is important for society. There has been no progress in the education system, no one is happy at school anymore, neither the children nor the teachers. I don’t want to believe that there is no way to make school a more comfortable place for everyone. Society must get started and send a message that it is important and that we will succeed in realizing it,” said Milanka Negić, the mother of murdered Sofija Negić in Ribnikar.

The forum “School for all of us” was held in Novi Sad and the following spoke at it: Milanka Negić, the mother of murdered Sofija Negić; Ninela Radićević, mother of murdered Ana Božović; Aleksandar Baucal, psychologist; Slobodan Cvejić, sociologist; Branislava Kostić, doctor of security science and Marko Oljača from the company “Koraci”.