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The Serbian government is inciting the
nazification of its politics and the society as a whole, which
reached its culmination during the past month and a half. The state
authorities, especially the police, are particularly responsible for
the growing number of violent incidents. The Helsinki Committee has
long been warning that extremist right-wing organizations are deeply
incorporated into the institutions and that there is no ideological
difference between the authorities and the extremist right-wing
organizations and that they act synchronously from the same
political platform that destabilizes the country and the region, and
protects the financial interests of the ruling elite.
The attacks on the Vice-President of the Party of
Freedom and Justice, Marinika Tepić, and a series of attacks on
civil society activists who call for the removal of the mural of war
criminal Ratko Mladić (including their apprehension), show growing
intolerance towards political dissenters as well as growing
chauvinism towards the members of ethnic and religious communities
in Serbia. During the latest attacks, Romanians and Bosniaks were
particularly targeted and there is also a growing fear among
Albanians, which has also been confirmed by the latest reports of
the Helsinki Committee on the minority communities in Serbia. The
statements of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, that he “loves all
Romanians, Bosniaks…” sound insincere, bearing in mind that the
minorities are marginalized. Marinika Tepić has come under attack
because, according to the polls, she is the person who, due to her
courage and consistency, enjoys the greater confidence of the
citizens than all other opposition leaders. The behaviour of the top
government officials and media encourages violence.
Belonging to a nation never makes anyone a
political enemy, but where belonging to a different nation serves
for one’s demonization and disqualification, there is no freedom, no
justice, no democracy, no civic culture, no basic human security.
The coordinated actions of the police and parallel state formations
against participants in environmental protests were obvious.
Shifting the responsibility for violence from the police to the
protesters is a common mechanism used by repressive regimes to
legitimize violence against their opponents.
We remind you that Dragoslav Bokan, who attacked
Marinika Tepić, is not a mere spokesman for the extremist
nationalist option. He actively implements such a policy. He has a
history of violent behaviour and participation in the wars and is
ready for a physical showdown. In the early 1990s, he led the
paramilitary formation “White Eagles”, which was established under
the auspices of the Serbian National Renewal. The formation operated
during the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina where it
participated in the intimidation, plundering, killing, torture,
expulsion and ethnic cleansing of the Muslims and Croats in Lovas,
Voćin, Zvornik, Sarajevo, Bijeljina, Bratunac, Brčko, Prijedor,
Višegrad...
Bokan has not participated in the war on the
ground since 1993, but has continued his nationalist, inflammatory
and propaganda activities by connecting with the Serbian political
and military leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Radovan Karadžić,
Ratko Mladić and Biljana Plavšić). He has recently stated (in 2019)
that he is most proud of the time he has spent on the battlefields
and in his very frequent media appearances during the last few years
he boasted of his war “endeavours” and leadership over the “White
Eagles” paramilitary formation.
He expressed his intolerance towards dissenters at
the very beginning of his activities in the 1990s: “There is a
justified fear that we will have to open an internal front in the
near or more distant future after the end of the war with the
external enemy… My faithful dog Tiger can recognize all Serbian
traitors in Belgrade and Bosnia by sniffing.“ (Duga, 30 August
1992).
Bokan is a privileged state director who directs
state events such as the Storm Anniversary (in 2000 and 2021) and
the celebration of the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and National
Flag (15 September 2021). He has recently spoken on the topic of the
Serbian world at an obscure festival of war, patriotic, spiritual
and Orthodox films, which was financed by the City of Novi Sad,
while the media sponsor was Sputnik. Bokan’s involvement in cultural
affairs best illustrates the essence of the National Strategy for
Cultural Development, which is based on ethno-nationalist values.
Serbia is declining morally and intellectually,
which is also reflected in the prevalent political culture. No
highways, hospitals and visits of authoritarian rulers to Serbia can
hide this fact.
As the elections are nearing, it is evident that
the current government is following the path of violence. Judging by
the reaction of the authorities, they are increasingly disturbed
because of the citizens’ rebellion that may suddenly explode.
The Helsinki Committee is calling the attention of
the United States and the European Union to send clear message to
the Serbian authorities that they will no longer tolerate the
fascization of the country, which is threatening the whole region.
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