Not even in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that one day I would be standing in the front of a squad of fully armed police in the middle of the city where I was born and in which I live, begging them to lay down their arms.

But that is precisely what happened last Sunday when I joined what local media and the politicians are calling “hooligans”, in a peaceful demonstration in Sarajevo, on the fourth day of the protests.

On Saturday and Friday, after peaceful demonstrations turned violent, many people were arrested, some during the protests, some afterwards. The police took them from their homes, from the streets or from anywhere else, and put them in detention.

The prosecution has now opened an investigation against some of those arrested; one group was detained for having organised “violent” protests by commenting and sharing different views on Facebook and other social networks. The prosecution says they advocated violence by saying “Srusimo vladu” – “Let’s topple the government”.

The parents of some of the mostly young detainees gathered in front of Sarajevo’s police station, asking for their children to be released.

A group of other people joined them out of solidarity and concern for them, some very young, since it was reported that they were injured while being detained.

I arrived with some foreign journalists to find not more than 20 people on the street. We approached them and spoke with one elderly man whose son, aged 27, had been taken the day before from their family home.

He said that his son had taken part in the protests, that he did not know if he had done anything wrong, but he knew that, like many others, his son felt forced onto the streets because the conditions for people in Bosnia and Herzegovina today had become unbearable.

“I just want to know if he is all right, but they won’t let me know,” the man said, crying. My colleague from The Netherlands was in tears, too – as was I. We held the hand of this man who looked lost – on another planet – unable to understand anything around him.

The moment was interrupted by the arrival of large group of armed police. I am not sure how many there were, but they formed a line between the police station and us.

Three police vans then arrived, halted in the front of the police building, and we heard people screaming, mainly women, shouting: “My son! My son!” At that moment, we realised that the people who had been arrested to the police station were now being transferred elsewhere.

Suddenly, the police started pushing us back – hard – a group of mostly elderly people, some kids and a few couples. They pushed us back and the vans left.

The police went back in line. I and some other people went up to face them, and ask them whether they knew what they were doing – and why. Silence. I was face to face with them, one after another, hoping desperately not to recognise any of them.

Not because I was afraid they could harm or arrest me. I just did not want to recognize anyone I knew, who might live in the same building as me, or whose family I might know.

I know that the police in Sarajevo and in other cities where protests are going on are just doing their jobs – jobs for which they are poorly paid. They do not have even proper equipment.

They are undertrained. Most live the same tough lives as the protesters, or even worse. Now they were standing in the front of us, obeying a man who said on TV that if “they”, meaning us, “cross the line, it will be us against them”.

So, just who are the hooligans – and what do they/we want?

They are people who are fed up of insecure lives in a country that does not function, a semi-protectorate on which everybody has been conducting experiments for over 20 years now. They are people who survived unimaginable nightmares during the war. They are people governed by careless, corrupt politicians.

We articulated our demands in this order:

1. Security forces: Not to undertake any measures that prevent peaceful protests. The cantonal authorities, in line with the constitution and the laws, must guarantee security for all participants in such protests.

2. Canton of Sarajevo: Because of the irresponsible work of the authorities so far, we demand that the people of Sarajevo decide on the formation of the next government

3. Federation government: We seek the immediate resignation of the entire government, starting with the Prime Minister.

These are the main demands being heard on the streets of Sarajevo. How we will get there, achieve that, and what people will help us… a million questions lie before us. But we have to try. There is no way out now and we do not want to stop. We must create a better country.

For now, we are trying to organise in citizens’ plenums, to practice democracy and teach local political leaders, and ourselves, a little bit about that. Until now, we did not have that chance. We will see. Hopefully we will make it this time. In fact, I am sure we will.