Vucic Denounces Australian Court Ruling against Djokovic as Witch Hunt

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/DS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Jan. 16 that Australia revoking its visa to tennis player Novak Djokovic was a political decision and witch hunt, adding that Canberra had degraded itself by doing so.

"They think they humiliated Novak Djokovic with the decision. They humiliated themselves, Djokovic can return to his country with his head held high and look anyone in the eye," Vucic told reporters after voting in a referendum in Serbia and went on to say that he had spoken briefly with Djokovic after the court handed down its ruling.

Vucic said the world's number one tennis player had done everything he was supposed to to take part in the Australian Open.

"You've been mistreating him for ten or eleven days to deliver a decision that you knew you would from day one. If you had said 'He's not vaccinated and is not allowed to enter the country,' he wouldn't have come and wouldn't have gotten vaccinated. As things stand, you left the door open to a medical exemption. He accordingly came and did everything he was supposed to, only to be subjected to bullying and mistreatment of incredible proportions, a media lynch and witch hunt. I guess they wanted to demonstrate on Novak Djokovic how the witch hunt world order works and how they can do that to anyone," he said.