Scientific and popular project: The trial of Gavrilo Princip and other participants in the Sarajevo assassination in 1914.

The Faculty of Law's project "Trial of Gavril Princip and other participants in the 1914 Sarajevo assassination - trial simulation as a practical form of teaching" was conceived as an additional activity for a group of students of all years of legal studies who, under the mentorship of teachers, associates and expert consultants, would work on reviving and reconstructing the event that followed the execution of the assassination. The project activities would include work on collecting relevant sources on the trial, preparation and simulation of the trial of the assassins. The work with students was conceived as an interactive work during the summer semester, within which all the necessary phases of the project would be carried out, and whose the end result was the trial simulation itself, which would be performed for teachers, other students, and the wider scientific public and the media.

The primary source for the preparation of the simulation is the transcripts from the trial, which are located in the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, and based on them, it is possible to perform a faithful reconstruction of the entire event. Given that the trial itself lasted from October 12 to October 28, 1914, it is impossible to carry out a complete reconstruction, although in the preparation phase the students would have processed the entire course of the procedure. The final event itself would include the key parts (reading of the indictment, Gavrilo Princip's testimony, witness hearing, sentencing), and those that would be of greatest interest to students.

The realization of the project is based on an accurate and credible presentation of the course of the procedure, which can be realized on the basis of all relevant sources, including the mentioned transcripts. Without the desire to subjectivize and politicize events, students will have the task of presenting one aspect of the functioning of the legal and judicial system, which of course had and still has its own political and ideological, but also human and emotional background.

The work plan includes a framework period of four months (February, March, April, May), with weekly meetings, group and individual work and exercises of individual trial phases. Through preparatory activities, students will have the opportunity to work on developing legal skills and rhetorical abilities, but also to gain additional knowledge about one of the most important events of the twentieth century. Through familiarization with the way the Austro-Hungarian judicial system functions and the prosecution of the participants who, if they did not cause, then surely accelerated its downfall, it is possible to draw conclusions about the given time, society and law, and view them in the light of the contemporary social, legal and political context. .

The basic material prerequisites for the realization of this project were realized through the implementation of the project of equipping the courtroom for trial simulation, which was assisted by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science. The preparatory and final activities of the project will be carried out in the environment of a real courtroom, which will enable students and the audience to experience a real trial. With special costumes and additional props, the year 1914 will be revived a hundred years later.
In addition to the simulation itself, the project activities include the organization of a round table on the topic of assassination and the simulated simulation, as well as the exhibition of original photographs of the students of the assassination, the act of assassination and the trial of the accused.

Project Team:

Project manager: Dr. Sc. Anita Durakovic
1. M.Sc. Šejla Maslo Čerkić, project coordinator and author of the simulation
2. Mr. Sc. Denis Pajic
3. Mr. Sc. Ramajana Demirović
4. Mr. Sc. Nerma – Čolaković Prguda
5. Sunčica Vejzović, B.Sc.
*Dr. Sc. Amra Mahmutagić, expert consultant

Duration: 4 months
The project is financed by: Federal Ministry of Education and Science