In memoriam: Emir Velić

Last farewell to our colleague, friend and one of the most wonderful people we have known, Emir Velić.

His departure still seems to us like a nightmare that we will wake up from any minute now, because it simply can’t be true that we lost him. To write about Emir in past tense is immensely painful. It is hard to find the words to say goodbye, because it wasn’t his time to go and it can’t be our time to bid him farewell.

Our thoughts are with his family and the people whose lives he touched and irradiated like he did ours. In this ocean of grief, we are trying to remind one another about how lucky we were to know him, to have a chance to work and be friends with him. And to learn so much from him, although he joined the team as its youngest member. His intellect, sharpness, enthusiasm, dedication to work and commitment to the values he believed in made him an irreplaceable part of the collective. He will always remain that. Because of Emir, we joked that Istinomjer should introduce the “employee of the month” recognition, and that Emir would get it every time. We relied on him like we did on so few people and we know that nobody will be able to replace him, in the team and in our lives. Because Emir was a wonderful big boy who rallied behind his great loves, FC Sarajevo and Taylor Swift, with equal eagerness, and analyzed the political process with the wisdom and precision of someone much older than himself. 

Emir was brilliant, selfless and full of potential. He was one of those young people who gave hope and optimism to everybody around them, and who are so scarce in this day and age. He got a bachelor’s degree in international relations and European studies from the International Burch University and a masters degree from Trent University. He trained basketball in the BC Igman Burch. In November 2020, he joined the Zašto ne team, and became the youngest researcher at the Istinomjer platform. Although the world was his oyster at the time, he returned to Sarajevo because he wanted to build his knowledge and talent into his community and society, sincerely believing that it should and can be changed for the better and giving his all to contribute to that. That was another thing that made him special.

Emir experienced and achieved so much in his young life, and he was just beginning. He had so much more to experience and give, and we know that his endless energy, insight and curiosity would have opened thousands of doors for him. It is an unspeakable injustice that this was taken from him so soon. It is also an injustice that we were deprived of a chance to see what he would have accomplished and what else he would have impressed us with. We know he would.

Emir passed away in Ljubljana, where he was supposed to spend another several months in an exchange program that he looked forward to and that he joined with the same enthusiasm he had for everything he did. Just two days before the horrible news of his passing, although we were far apart, we spent a day together making plans for the next year; we talked, laughed and joked as every time we were with him. We couldn’t imagine that it would be the last time we were with him.

That is how we remember him – always young, smiling, brilliant, funny, full of ideas and plans. We will do our best to do everything he came up with and thus make him proud.

Goodbye Vela, you will stay with us forever.