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Winners of the Dusko Kondor Award

A ceremony with Gariwo Sarajevo

The ceremony.

The ceremony.

Dusko Kondor was a teacher whose passion was teaching children about civil courage, collaborating with Svetlana Broz and the staff of Gariwo Sarajevo. In 2006, he was assassinated by Serbian extremists for attempting to testify as witness to a massacre of Muslim Bosniaks during the war. Every year Gariwo Sarajevo dedicates a ceremony to assigning awards for civil courage in his name. In 2014, during the European Day of the Righteous on March 6th, the awarded were Milan Levar, Vlado Trifunovic, Asmir Fatkic and Visnja Marilovic. Milan Popovic, received an honorable mention for his civil courage. To follow are the motivations for the awards given. 


Milan Levar, mechanic and Croatian army official, was killed by a bomb hidden in the curtains of his office for having disobeyed inhuman orders by the Croatian army and for testifying against those who commanded them. 


Vlado Trifunovic, former general of the Yugoslavian army and author of books about his memories, refused to conduct certain operations against the Croatians, saving Croatian soldier and officer lives in the process. For this reason, there was an immediate trial for high treason against the Serbian state. He called himself "the one Yugoslav general to be condemned like a criminal of war, but for averting a war crime." Also, he noted "when I swore in as a soldier, I also swore to my mother that my actions would never make other mothers cry."


Asmir Fatkic, Muslim religious leader,  spent his time combating crimes in the Islamic community of Bosnia. For this he was accused of trying to ruin the reputation of the Muslim community and immediately was attacked for it, without the defense of the police. He often cautioned other leaders, both religious and secular, about the importance of fighting criminality "because to me the imam has requested a higher degree of integrity compared to that of others."


Visnja Marilovic, of Sarajevo, completely understanding the risks at hand (like the other award winners), denounced a series of irregularities in the agency she worked in. After she was licensed, she incurred threats and for a period her and her children were required to live under escort, while she worked to help other people who denounced corruption in their places of work.


Milan Popovic is a scientist of international fame and a Montenegrin university professor. He received a mention for his civil courage for his dedication to pacifism, and when war erupted, for having denounced the crimes of deporting Bosnian civilians. He defended a blind man who was tortured gravely by Montenegrin police and every day he continues every day to keep fighting, despite threats and attacks. 

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