Large Number of Instances of Political Violence Recorded in Serbia

Protest rally in Novi Sad (BetaPhoto/Katarina Redzic)

Political violence monitoring, performed by citizens’ association Kareja Corruption Research Institute in September, recorded 97 instances of political violence, most of which in Novi Sad, Cacak and Bogatic.

“The largest number of instances, 12, were reported on Sept. 5. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who have been insulted, have also become victims of political violence. The police broke one activist’s arm and the elbow of an elderly man with a cane. In Novi Sad, a man opposing blockades, hit a female student. In addition to these injuries, eyewitnesses say that dozens of other people were injured in Novi Sad on Sept. 5,” the association said in a statement. 

An extremely dangerous form of political violence, according to the statement, was the use of CN gas (a type of tear gas) at a protest outside the Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy, the presence of which has been identified by laboratory tests at the Faculty of Sciences in the city.

“The most extreme form of political violence recorded was a death threat by Sinisa Vucinic, a member of the Serbian Progressive Party Steering Committee. He said that “among those enforcing blockades, they will kill the youngest, giving the person’s last name,” according to the state

ment.