Three students were brutally beaten by right-wing assailants in in Novi Sad, Serbia. Two of the students, Mihajlo Nikolić and Marko Đelević, are members of Združena akcija Krov nad glavom (Joint action Roof Over The Head), a non-governmental organisation fighting against forced evictions. The third one, Dejan Bagarić, is an activist of the opposition movement Jedan od pet miliona (One Of Five Million). (https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/intervju-nedelje-studenti/30000023.html)
And then there was a separate incident. Uroš Janjić, a student from Leskovac, was twice stabbed with knife in the back in the city of Niš. Janjić and his friend were surrounded by five non-identified persons that demanded he take off a t-shirt with antifascists message on it. When he refused, he was stabbed. ( https://www.danas.rs/drustvo/student-koji-je-izboden-zbog-majice-prihvatam-cenu-stavova-koje-zastupam/) For the time being, police have not brought any substantial evidences or found possible suspects for attack on Janjić.
This wave of violence has happened within past two weeks, proving that the Serbian regime poses a direct threat to its people. You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to conclude that Serbia is country in which extreme right-wing organizations like Srpska desnica (Serbian Right) of Miša Vacić, which are sponsored by regime and government’s security services, are doing the regime’s dirty work. Their aim is to destroy new, left-wing and progressive opposition and, with it, anyone who has the vision of radically different Serbia.
This is why the only solution is a new citizen’s protest movement, joining the forces of the progressive left. Fear is spreading throughout country and the only way to defeat it is democratic struggle and civil disobedience on a national scale.
But this alone will not be enough without strong support from antifascists all over Europe. Gory pictures of students covered in blood and bruises coming from Serbia show what can happen to the whole continent. No pasaran!
Aleksandar Novaković, historian and dramatist, member of Thematic DSC Military and Foreign Policy 1
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