Serbia: Rising Tensions and Nervousness - Violence and Politics

Rising Tensions and Nervousness

One of the organizers of the One Out of the Five Million protests in Novi Sad, a student of the Faculty of Philosophy and Democratic Party activist, Dejan Bagaric, was assaulted and severely beaten on university campus grounds on June 8. Men unfamiliar to Bagaric attacked him not far from the student canteen, threw him down onto the ground and dealt him several blows, after the Saturday protest in Novi Sad. He was admitted to the ER where he received medical treatment for numerous hematomas and injuries caused by blows to his head and body. Just a day earlier, between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., outside the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, Roof over Our Heads Joint Action activists, students Marko Djelevic and Mihajlo Nikolic were attacked with metal bars and brass knuckles by two unidentified masked assailants, in plain sight of numerous passers-by.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic did not react to the news of the beating of students by visiting the injured or issuing an official statement, but in parallel with the incident he initiated a spin based on the accusation that it was in fact opposition party activists and other opponents of the ruling bloc who were using violence. “That is the democratic solution of those who whine about violence, they say ‘long guns’ are the answer. C’mon, for the love of God, don’t make threats in those papers anymore! (Vuk) Jeremic, (Dragan) Djilas, (Bosko) Obradovic and Jovo Bakic, tell me where to come, I’m alone and the five of you can beat just me up, so I can get that serious beating – for the love of God, do it finally,” he told a press conference, commenting on a statement by sociologist Jovo Bakic that the situation in society was very bad, that there would be conflict and that the authorities would not step down peacefully.

In the same statement in which he challenged his political opponents to a physical fight, Vucic expressed his astonishment at the fact that the prosecution was silent, explaining that with the claim that prosecutors were still under the control of people from the previous authorities, who are now opposition leaders. The police promptly reacted to the president’s statement and immediately summoned Bakic for questioning. He was handed the summons at the Faculty of Philosophy, where he teaches, despite the fact that the law prohibits the entry of police to University premises without prior permission from the University authorities. That actually refuted Vucic’s claim that the public governing bodies, including the judiciary, are still under the control of the previous authorities, which is why proceedings are not led against the ruling bloc’s opponents. Such statements by Vucic are part of a political campaign, because the reaction of the prosecution and police shows that they most certainly do respond to political messages, but only when they are coming from the ruling bloc.

After the questioning, Bakic told reporters that the reason for his being called to the police station had been an interpretation of his interview by pro-regime media, according to which he had argued for a forced entry of the opposition to the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation building with long guns. “I never said that anywhere, and I stand by everything I said to the NIN weekly and that is why I am ready to face anyone in court,” said Bakic. In spite of that explanation, it is clear that the manner in which he defined his views in the interview with NIN is pretty radical, but that does not mean there are substantiated reasons for the claim that he might actually organize and lead violent actions against his opponents and that he should be prosecuted.

Spin Doctoring

Behind all this is, in fact, a firm desire of the Serbian authorities to portray, by using their dominant influence on the mainstream media, all their political opponents as violent or traitors, while presenting themselves as fighters against violence. The head of state is directly involved in those efforts, while the opposition leaders and other opponents of the regime practically have no way of explaining their positions in the pro-regime media which serve as sources of information for some 80 percent of the population. Vucic added three opposition leaders to the story about Bakic’s interview, with the aim of convincing his supporters that all those who criticize the ruling bloc and him personally are the same and are all prone to violence. In a subsequent statement, he explained that he had not been calling for a physical fight, but rather that he had been asking them to beat him up and to stop “threatening the people.” More specifically, Vucic said that the opposition leaders should stop threatening “me and the people,” thus equating (and not for the first time) himself and the Serbian people, given that Bakic had not mentioned either him or the people.

Aside from the fact that the president’s call to some people to come and beat him up is practically unfeasible, since there are regulations dealing with the security of state officials, it is also unacceptable in a political sense, because it points to a violent resolution of relations between political opponents. In reality, the violence of the government’s opponents which Serbian officials and the pro-regime media insist on is largely a product of spin doctoring. Bakic’s interpretation of potential developments in Serbian society is basically a sociological explanation, charged with a strong and sharp rhetoric, but nevertheless he is neither the leader nor organizer of a violent group, nor can he pose such a dramatic threat to the country’s security. The authorities essentially took advantage of his propensity for radical statements and used it for their own political purposes.

The beating up of students in Novi Sad is only the last in a number of attacks on political opponents, journalists and others who express opinions different from those of the ruling bloc. Earlier victims of beatings were Dalibor Stanojevic, one of the organizers of the protests in Knjazevac, Milan Blagojevic, one of the organizers of the protests in Zitoradja, Strahinja Ciric, one of the organizers of the protests in Negotin, as well as Vladimir Petkovic, one of the organizers of the protests in Zajecar. The opposition protests began late last year, when opposition politician Borko Stefanovic was brutally assaulted, receiving a blow to the back of the head with a metal bar during a forum organized by his party in the city of Krusevac. The incident was a trigger for more active engagement of opposition parties, but the protests were initially led by civil organizations and activists.

Consequences

The data on the violence of representatives of the authorities have been systematized by the Association of Free Aldermen, which gathers the members of local parliaments in Serbia who are not part of the ruling bloc. “The progression of crisis, violence, aggression, absence of dialogue, divisions in society, the division into ‘us’ and ‘them’ is enormous. You are no longer able to control all the consequences of your actions. You are unable to control all those who believed you [when you said that] all critically inclined citizens, public figures or politicians are ‘enemies of the state’, ‘traitors’, ‘foreign hirelings’, ‘thieves’, ‘fascists’, ‘scum’ and all the other labels you use for your opponents. You have to be aware that you’ve sown hatred deep and that there are people who believe the epithets you use for your opponents. And you cannot control them,” the association said in an open letter to Vucic.

Despite the fact that it is becoming increasingly obvious that violence is slowly and systematically entering the country’s political life, appeals like the one made by the Association of Free Aldermen, as it stands, are unlikely to cause the desired reaction. The manner in which the head of state and the ruling bloc officials react to the positions of their political opponents shows that the bloc has no real intention of establishing a dialogue with them, i.e. with the segment of society that is critical of the moves made by the government. That will inevitably lead to a further rise in tensions in society, which in itself fuels instability. The authorities are trying in every possible way to pass the blame to the opposition, accusing it of both inciting violence and avoiding dialogue. They are sending such messages to the public at home, but also to the international community, attempting to convince them that they are strongly in favor of the rule of law and media freedom, while the opposition is the main problem.

And while this approach, primarily thanks to the regime’s control over the mainstream media, is yielding results on the domestic political scene and keeping the majority of the population convinced that all the problems come from the opposition, internationally things cannot work that way. So it happened that the latest European Commission Progress Report for Serbia contained fierce criticism of the work of the parliament and functioning of the rule of law and the judicial system, but also of media freedom, whereas the Freedom House organization came out with a negative assessment of the state of the Serbian media scene, while Serbia has slid down on the list of countries ranked by media freedoms.

Although at this time it is highly unlikely that there is a “secret room” which sends orders such as “you will beat Bagaric up” or “manhandle a little those students who are supposedly protesting enforced evictions,” it is difficult to believe that there is a single center that decides who, when and where will be beaten up. But it is a whole different question if local Serbian Progressive Party strongmen understand a “signal” in the rhetoric of the country’s senior leadership as telling them that everything is permitted in dealing with the opposition in their respective communities. Which seems to be the case.

If so, then this appears to be a much bigger problem, because it turns out that the perpetrators of violence, or hooligans, in Serbia have realized that the time is right for them to take justice into their own hands, with impunity. Therein lies the answer to the question what made those people beat up three students in Novi Sad without considering the consequences. They, and not just they, have accepted violence as socially desirable behavior, especially where “them protesters” are concerned. Instead of punishment, they are probably thinking about a reward or some other kind of gratification.