Balada o Miri Barešiću

"Balada o Miri Barešiću"
Song by Duško Lokin
from the album Zapivajmo Dalmaciji, nazdravimo Kroaciji
Released	1992
Genre	Pop, Ballad
Songwriter(s)	Đorđe Novković
Lyricist(s)	Ante Muštra-Tulija

Balada o Miri Barešiću (lit. Ballad to Miro Barešić) is a song released by singer Duško Lokin in 1992. The song is dedicated to the Croatian émigré and paramilitant Miro Barešić, who died in the early stages of the war in 1991, only three weeks after his return to Croatia.

Background

Miro Barešić was born in Šibenik on the 10th of September 1950. At 18 he was sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to join the Yugoslav army. After serving the sentence, in 1969 he illegally fled to Italy and later Sweden, where he would link up with members of the Croatian National Resistance movement, an organization of Croatian nationalists

In 1971 he would gain notoriety when he and Anđelko Brajković stormed the Yugoslav embassy in Sweden and took the Yugoslav ambassador, Vladimir Rolović, former head of UDBA and former commander of the Goli Otok prison hostage. They wanted to exchange him for Miljenko Hrkać a member of the Croatian Liberation Movement, sentenced to death in Yugoslavia. However, when the police approached the building, the two killed the hostage. They surrendered shortly after that. While they were being escorted, Miro kissed Anđelko on the cheek and started chanting "long live the Independent State of Croatia" and "long live Ante Pavelić". Despite being convicted of murder, They would serve their sentence only until 1972, when a group of Croatian terrorists hijacked a Swedish domestic flight, demanding their release.

Barešić was flown to Spain, stayed in custody for 19 months and then moved to Paraguay under the false name of Toni Šarić. There he joined the armed forces, rising to the rank of captain. He was sent to the USA as a bodyguard for the Paraguayan ambassador. His identity was discovered and he was forced to flee back to Paraguay. However he would face trial in New York after an extortion ring that targeted Yugoslav immigrants to the United States was uncovered and, despite being acquitted, he was deported to Sweden where he was sentenced to life in prison, only serving 7 years between 1980 and 1987.

Miro Barešić a few days before his death (July 1991)

In 1991, at the start of the war in Croatia, he would return under the false name of Božidar Smotalić, and formed a unit subordinated to the Ministry of Defence in Zadar under the name Marko Marić. On the 31st of July 1991, at his first action in the army, he was killed near Benkovac. The circumstances of Barešić's death are controversial. It was the subject of a criminal inquest of 2002, launched after Nikola Majstorović, author of a film dealing Barešić's death, filed a complaint with the Croatian State Attorney, and it concluded that Barešić was killed in an ambush prepared by the SAO Krajina special police. Two private investigators, on the other hand, claimed Barešić was killed by one of men in his own unit, allegedly to cover up the identities of former Yugoslav secret police agents who had returned to Croatia since 1990 under the guise of political dissidents before Barešić identified them.

Release

The lyrics were written by Ante Muštra-Tulija, who worked with Duško on his 1991 album Toplo mi je oko duše . The music was written by famous composer Đorđe Novković. Details about the recording of the song or about other people involved are unknown. What is known is that the song appeared on the compilation Zapivajmo Dalmaciji, nazdravimo Kroaciji released in Summer 1992.

Lyrics

Dragoj tišina zvoni

Srce još peče bolom

Proplače kamen tvrdi

U duši za slobodom

Život si za nju dao

Nosio barjak roda

Plače te, Miro, zemlja

Što je, brate, sloboda

Za dom, za dom, za dom si pao, brate

Sveta je tvoja rana

Za dom, za dom, počivaj, brate

Na groblju velikana

Kao neke silne vode

Dragom poteku snovi

U nje paraju nebo

Olujom tvojem boli

Na križnom putu ti si

Patio dušom doma

Mojoga njih odgoji(?)

Zemljom kuća sloboda

Za dom, za dom, za dom si pao, brate

Sveta je tvoja rana

Za dom, za dom, počivaj, brate

Na groblju velikana

External links

Balada o Miri Barešiću