Academician: Police Shift from Protector to Enemy of the People

Belgrade, panorama (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Radomir Saicic, a member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, said on July 4 that the brutal attacks of police on students meant that law enforcement had turned from being the protector of citizens to an enemy of the people.

Saicic told BETA in an interview that the government was signalling that anyone can run students and citizens over while they protest peacefully. "For a long time now we have been dealing with horrific repression and witnessing daily beatings of students. The minister [Interior Minister Ivica Dacic] and director of police [Dragan Vasiljevic] are not speaking the truth when they say that police are using appropriate force and no chemical weapons. Two days ago, we saw them handcuff and beat up students in front of the School of Law. These are brutal attacks by the police which has turned from being the protector of citizens into an enemy of the people," the academician said.

Asked why the government was not addressing the political crisis with political means, Saicic said the government did not want "a just solution" and was attempting to preserve its positions using repression.

"It's all about the personal interests of the people in the state leadership. This is now a fight between good and evil, and this government is beginning to promote evil more and more openly, not just with fundamental civic rights being violated but citizens being prevented from even expressing dissatisfaction. The government has transformed the instruments of protection of the state and citizens into instruments of repression, threat, fear and the destruction of lives," stressed Saicic, who is a professor at the University of Belgrade's School of Chemistry.