Uzice (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN KARADAREVIC)
The Higher Court in Uzice decided on July 14 to lift a 30-day detention order for seven of the nine people arrested on suspicion of assaulting a public official during a highway blockade in the city. They are now released pending trial. Their attorney, Mihilo Krstic, told Insajder that a decision for the remaining two detainees was not released yet, and it’s unclear when it could be expected.
The arrest of nine citizens during the blockade of the Zlatibor highway on July 6 and 9 has sparked daily protests in Uzice over the past week. The largest rally was held on July 13 under the slogan, “Serbia, Uzice is calling you.”
The protest rally began around 4 p.m. in the city center, and after speeches several thousand citizens from Uzice and other towns blocked the main road from Uzice to Pozega. The blockade proceeded without incidents and in the absence of police presence. The protesters were back the next morning, waiting outside the Court building for the outcome of appeals challenging the court’s decision to impose 30-day detention on those arrested.
The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs criticized the court ruling releasing the detainees accused of assaulting an officer in a press release, which read that the ruling was a message that assaulting police was "permitted and unsanctioned."
The statement went on to say that it was "inappropriate" for judicial authority to succumb to pressure from a part of the public and "reduce the severity of the perpetrated crime," and that the ministry advocated absolute protection for police officers who "risk their lives every day protecting constitutional order and the law."
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