At the large Sretenje gathering in Kragujevac, the Student Letter was read aloud. The speech was delivered by a student of the University of Kragujevac, whose name remains unknown to the public.
The text received ovations from tens of thousands of people at the rally.
Here is the full text of the Student Letter:
Dear colleagues, dear citizens,
All of you who feel free and open-minded,
Welcome.
First of all, we, from the University of Kragujevac, would like to thank students from other faculties for their great effort and commitment to come here in such large numbers.
Today, we are joined by students and citizens from all over Serbia, united by the same idea – the idea of serious social change based on the fundamental values we all share.
We stand with you in this. And beyond our concern for the tragedy, we call on institutions for the swiftest and most transparent action.
We remind once again that students clearly and unequivocally demand the fulfillment of requests from the relevant institutions, which should maintain their independence and legitimacy.
Even then, it was emphasized that the rule of law is a prerequisite for freedom.
Where are we today, two centuries later? Two centuries since the foundation of the modern Serbian state was laid, we find ruins in the same place. And on those ruins, yellowed and charred paper, with barely visible letters. Letters that proclaim freedom.
We look into the faces of the leaders of the Mileta’s Rebellion, 1000 peasants who, around Christmas in 1835, came to Kragujevac to demand that the Prince fulfill what he persistently postponed – to accept that, by the letter of the law, the Principality was his dignity, but not his private estate.
This rebellion, or demonstration as we would call it today, produced the Sretenje Constitution in just over a month.
In that short time, almost an instant in history, it was written by the renowned Dimitrije Davidović, the Serbian Founding Father.
Despite all the criticisms of the Sretenje Constitution’s strength, often highlighted by professors – that it was in effect for too short a time, that Serbia stretched beyond its legal means, that only personal and not political rights were covered – it was a constitutional act that was one of the most democratic in Europe at the time.
The structure of modern Serbia, thanks to this legal text, could have been far more liberal than that of many European countries.
Looking at Serbia 190 years ago, in this time when nature awakens from its winter sleep, we can draw many parallels: We have immense public dissatisfaction, demands to establish – or rather re-establish – institutions, and the fact that all levers of power are in the hands of one man. Yet, Kodža Miloš will be remembered in Serbian history as a state-builder.
It is easy to boast, as is done every year during these ceremonies, that this constitutional act, among other things, proclaimed the separation of powers and financial sovereignty, aimed to deliver a final blow to feudalism, and formally abolished slavery before France and the United States.
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Let us therefore remind ourselves of certain norms from the Sretenje Constitution that now seem more relevant than ever. Here are just some examples from the pen of Dimitrije Davidović, then also a young and learned man who sought to contribute to the re-establishment of the Serbian state:
“Article 47: The State Council shall observe and ensure that not even the smallest injustice is done to any Serbian; and if it notices any injustice, it shall rush to remove it.”
Are we removing injustice today?
“Article 71: Members of the State Council are obliged to express their opinions openly, truthfully, and without hypocrisy… Anyone acting otherwise is, by default, a criminal to be judged and punished according to the law.”
Do our representatives and officials speak the truth?
“Article 80: A judge, in pronouncing his judgment, is dependent on no one in Serbia but the Serbian code of law; no authority, greater or lesser, in Serbia has the right to deter him from this or order him to judge differently than what the law prescribes.”
What is our judiciary like today?
“Article 82: The National Assembly consists of one hundred of the most selected, most reasonable, most honest, and most trusted deputies from all districts and the entire Principality of Serbia.”
Do the most selected, reasonable, and honest among us sit in our Assembly today?
The fight for freedom and justice is in the genetic code of the Serbian being.
Justice, together with God, is for now only captive in the anthem, waiting for liberation.
It will not come with the stomp of boots, clad in military shoes with full battle gear on their backs. It will come with the steps of those whose shoulders carry a head that thinks freely.
To paraphrase the poet – it seems the winter sleep is over, and wakefulness promises.
Happy Sretenje to us all, happy Statehood Day, and may we persevere together in our struggle.
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Source: Nedeljnik, Foto: Fonet/Branko Vučković