Admir Džihić had a turbulent childhood.
On Oct. 22, 1992, 12-year-old Admir was the only survivor of the kidnapping and murder of 16 Muslims from a bus going from Sjeverin to Priboj in Sandžak. He was saved from certain death by Ilija Kitić, a neighbor of Serb nationality, who was standing next to him. Kitić waived his hand and said, ‘It’s ok.’ creating the impression that Admir Džihić was his son. The boy was spared, but the kidnappers took and later murdered his uncle, Esad Džihić, with whom he was traveling.
In 2006, a Belgrade court sentenced Milan Lukić, Oliver Krsmanović and Dragutin Dragičević to 20 years in prison for that crime, while Đorđe Šević received 15 years, according to Belgrade court files. Film director Ivan Markov made a documentary, ‘Kidnapping’ in which Admir Džihić made an appearance. The director protected his identity by not showing his face and distorting his voice for fear of reprisal.
After the traumatic event of 1992, Admir Džihić took refuge in Turkey with his family. His parents and brother Edin moved to Sarajevo after the war, while Admir remained in Turkey.
In 2003, Džihić did not show up in Belgrade court to testify as a witness in the trial against the kidnappers because, his father said, he had no money for a plane ticket to come from Turkey. The court paid for his expenses, so Džihić eventually did testify.
According to the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Prosecutor’s Office, Admir Džihić married a Turkish citizen and became co-owner of a sock factory. A teenager arrested in the 2005 seizure of 38.7 kilos of heroin from two Sarajevo apartments told police the brothers smuggled the drugs into BiH, possibly in shipments of socks.
