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The organizations gathered around the Three Freedoms Platform
strongly condemn the police brutality towards the citizens gathered
at the protests in front of the Belgrade City Assembly on Sunday,
December 24, and call for an immediate reaction by the competent
authorities to protect basic rights and freedoms. Since the
elections on December 17, the citizens of Belgrade have been
gathering every evening in front of the building of the Republic
Election Commission (RIK) to express their dissatisfaction with the
undemocratic election conditions and the theft that occurred before
and during the election day, which was pointed out by
local and
numerous
international observation missions. Vote buying, mass
migration of voters brought to the capital with the aim of altering
the electoral will of citizens are just some of the irregularities
recorded in the parliamentary and local elections. It is exactly
these election irregularities that the citizens point out every day
in front of the RIK, but yesterday the police used force for the
first time in order to disperse the crowd. The organizations
gathered around the Platform demand an immediate reaction from the
authorities in condemning police brutality, which is a gross
violation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, in which
the police should be a service to citizens, not a tool of
repression.
In defense of the electoral will, the citizens of Belgrade gathered
in front of the RIK on December 24 at 6 p.m. A little later, the
protest rally continued spontaneously in front of the City Assembly
building when MPs from opposition parties tried to enter the
building. Their entry was prevented by strong police forces securing
the Assembly building. Soon a group of hooded men threw stones at
the entrance.
The Coalition of Serbia against Violence announced that these are
hooligans who were planted by the government in order to cause riots
at the protest. This would not be the first time that the government
used such tactics in order to subsequently justify the actions of
the police and to present representatives of the opposition and
citizens who express their dissatisfaction as thugs who would
destroy the constitutional order. The police threw smoke bombs and
pepper spray at the crowd and started to break up the protest.
Numerous examples of
violent behavior of the police towards the
demonstrators were recorded in the videos and photos, and
several
people were injured in the police assault. Several press teams were
attacked during the protest. Among the injured is a journalist from
the Nova.rs portal, who was hit on the arm by a policeman with a
baton. Attacks on Al Jazeera and Beta cameramen were also recorded.
People's deputy of the Green-Left Front Radomir Lazović also
announced that he received several blows from behind by members of
the gendarmerie. During yesterday's protest,
38 people were
arrested, including
4 students, who were taken into a civilian car
by armed persons. Police violence against the demonstrators
culminated in yesterday's protest, but the pressure and intimidation
to which the gathered citizens were exposed has been pointed out for
days. Young people are particularly exposed to targeting, whom the
state should encourage to participate in political life and the
building of a democratic society, and not, instead, send them the
message that protests are something that ends up in prison.
We remind you that earlier this week, videos of an unknown person
who was scrolling through the photos from the personal documents of
students who are protesting election theft on his phone appeared on
the Internet at one of the protests. The photo of an activist from
his passport also appeared in pro-government tabloids, and such an
identity document could only come from someone from the police. This
is the grossest abuse of personal data and
abuse of the police for
political purposes, and the intention is to intimidate and
discourage young people who stood up for democratic principles and
values.
In conditions where the competent state authorities do not react to
violations of the laws of this country, citizens are forced to seek
the protection of basic rights on the street and to fight for them
in non-institutional ways. Terror, violence and intimidation used by
the police in the service of the government are an unacceptable
example of violation of basic rights and freedoms. We condemn the
brutal use of force against citizens and call on the competent state
authorities to act in accordance with the law. We also call on
international and domestic organizations, bodies, independent
institutions, individuals and the media to condemn the
attack on the
basic rights of citizens, which were violated in the most brutal way
during the election day on December 17, but also during yesterday's
protest, and in order to prevent further erosion and collapse of
basic political and civil liberties.
Signatories:
Civic Initiatives
Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation
Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR)
The Lawyers’ Committee For Human Rights (YUCOM)
The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (IJAS)
Novi Optimizam
Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
Autonomous Women's Center (AWC)
Center for Cultural Decontamination
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
Catalyst Balkans
BeFem, feminist cultural center
Women in Black
SOS Women's Center
Citizens Association Women Space
Association of Women Sandglass
European Movement Serbia
Initiative for Economic and Social Rights A11
Women for Peace
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