House for Human Rights premises in Belgrade attacked

House for Human Rights premises in Belgrade attacked

The police investigated the scene, while KLJPD announced they expect the attackers to be found and punished.

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) Director Milan Antonijevic told Tanjug that he assumes the police will do everything they can to find the perpetrators, adding that the attack should be seen as a warning and a call to fight against violence in Serbia.

"Every attack that does not meet with an adequate response from the state represents yet another invitation to continue with such acts," Antonijevic said, adding that this event, even though it did not result in a physical attack, "should be taken seriously."

The NGO network in the meanwhile issued a statement saying that violence in society is becoming increasingly intensive and that the targets are representatives of those institutions speaking critically about the results of the government, as well as representatives of opposition parties, and now human rights organizations in Serbia.

"The attack took place as the election of a member of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media proposed by civil society is being unlawfully and forcibly annulled, and as repressive laws on public order and peace and assembly are being passed, ones which limit the freedom of action of citizens and their organizations," the statement said.

KLJPD further stated that the attacks were "the culmination of a campaign against civil society organizations conducted by the state newspaper Politika using the methods from the time it served Slobodan Milosevic and accusing associations of citizens of working in the interest of foreign powers."

The organization also reminded that the attackers who targeted Faculty of Political Sciences Dean Ilija Vujacic, journalists Davor Pasalic and Ivan Ninic, Assistant Minister of Education Milovan Suvak and member of the Anti-Corruption Miroslava Milenovic have not yet been found.

Those who attacked members of the opposition during a number of local elections over the last three years, including the incidents in Mionica, have also not been discovered yet, the statement said.

The House for Human Rights and Democracy includes Civic Initiatives, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights - YUCOM, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and the Center for Practical Politics.

Reacting to the incident, Commissioner for Equality Brankica Jankovic condemned it in the strongest terms and called on the authorities to shed light on the circumstances under which the window was smashed on the premises where important non-governmental organizations in Serbia gather.

Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic on Friday also condemned the incident in the strongest terms, and said the police were working intensively on this case to find the perpetrators as soon as possible and bring them to the competent authorities.