Career
The Christian Science Monitor described him as an equal critic of all parties without regard to ethnicity and "probably the most feared journalist in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
In October 1999, he lost both legs in a car bomb attack in apparent retaliation for his reporting on war crimes by Bosnian Serbs. Kopanja holds a degree in economics from University of Banja Luka. He also was a professional player of association football.
He began his journalist career with the Banja Luka"s daily newspaper Glas before the Bosnian War and then reported about criminal doings of Republika Srpska during the war for Belgrade"s weekly newspaper Telegraf.
The magazine was funded in part by the United States Agency for International Development, per a part of the Dayton Agreement which had called for funding for non-nationalist media. Beginning with a circulation of 4,000, the newspaper later became a daily, and its circulation climbed to 18,000 in the next five years.
With the report, the paper became the first Bosnian Serb paper to report on war crimes by Bosnian Serbs during the Yugoslav Wars. At the same time, he stated that he "stands by the thesis that no nation is genocidal or criminal, but individuals from certain nations are.
I think that the Serbian people do not deserve to carry this burden.
I do not allow anyone to commit war crimes in my name or in the name of my people, nor does anyone have the right to do that."
Following Kopanja"s reporting on atrocities committed by Bosnian Serbs, he was denounced by some groups as a traitor, and began to receive death threats. On October 22, 1999, he was nearly killed by a car bomb that exploded as he turned the ignition key. A nearby hospital amputated both of his legs.
International supporters funded follow-up medical care for him in Austria, as well as high-quality prosthetic legs.
Srpski Glas joined Nezavisne Novine in printing a mostly blank front page three days after the bombing, carrying only the words "We Want to Know" to call for further investigation into the attack. Bosnian television interrupted programming to display the same message.
The perpetrators were not found, though Kopanja later stated his belief that Serbian security forces were responsible for the attack in retaliation for his reporting on war crimes. An investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation supported his contention.
Kopanja continued to edit and write for Nezavisne Novine despite the attack.