Mayor condemns attack on French football fan

Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas says there is a lack of security for members of the public and wants the authorities to outlaw all groups that call for violence. Djilas called the attack on Toulouse supporters in Belgrade last night a “terrible event,“ stressing that such incidents led to chaos. Mayor condemns attack on French football fan “On behalf of all Belgraders, I call on the authorities, the police, the judiciary and sports clubs to outlaw organizations that call for violence and to imprison all those who seek to fight and kill,“ the mayor said. Djilas visited the two Frenchmen injured in the attack in hospital last night. “One of the Frenchmen was hit in the head with a bottle and they pushed a firecracker into his face. The life of the other was in serious danger last night. He had three clear imprints of a bar across his chest, which caused his aorta to burst. And that all happened in broad daylight, which clearly suggests that there’s not enough security for any Belgrader,” said the mayor. He said that hooligans had set fire to the U.S. embassy in Belgrade last year following Kosovo’s unilateral independence declaration, during which 20-year-old Zoran Vujovic from Novi Sad had lost his life, and also recalled the protest against the arrest of Hague fugitive Radovan Karadzic when 41-year-old Ranko Panic from Mladenovac died. Hooligans, who, Djilas said, often hid behind the names of sports clubs and various patriotic organizations, had also attacked public buses on three occasions in recent weeks. On one occasion they had assaulted a father and son, and had thrown firecrackers into the other two, injuring a 16-year-old girl. “The whole time the state and the authorities did virtually nothing... I think the only ones they caught in those incidents were (Red Star fan) Uros Misic and the guy they arrested in the recent attack on the bus near the Belgrade Fair. All the others are probably hatching new plans,“ said the mayor. “The whole city’s covered in graffiti ’Justice for Uros’, whose supporters claim the policeman that Misic attacked, and who barely survived, was mentally ill. People are pulling rackets over Uros Misic. I’ve got information that they’ve been asked to contribute money for Misic’s defense, and if you don’t, you get a beating,“ he said. “All that’s leading to chaos. Often the clubs themselves are mixed up in that. I read in the papers that they pay their supporters’ lawyers. That’s why we have a situation today where a young man comes to Belgrade and might leave in a coffin,“ lamented Djilas. The mayor also leveled criticism at daily Politika and its columnist Djordje Vukadinovic, who recently justified Serbian fans whistling the French national anthem. Vukadinovic said that the media had deceived the public by focusing on the applause towards the end, when, in his opinion, the whistles had been more widespread. “That’s a disgrace for Politika. And when you couple that with the other articles, you have a situation where a 12-year-old child in Novi Sad is shooting at the police, while people in bars fear for their lives,“ he said. Dragan Djilas (Beta, archive)

Mayor condemns attack on French football fan

“On behalf of all Belgraders, I call on the authorities, the police, the judiciary and sports clubs to outlaw organizations that call for violence and to imprison all those who seek to fight and kill,“ the mayor said.

Đilas visited the two Frenchmen injured in the attack in hospital last night.

“One of the Frenchmen was hit in the head with a bottle and they pushed a firecracker into his face. The life of the other was in serious danger last night. He had three clear imprints of a bar across his chest, which caused his aorta to burst. And that all happened in broad daylight, which clearly suggests that there’s not enough security for any Belgrader,” said the mayor.

He said that hooligans had set fire to the U.S. embassy in Belgrade last year following Kosovo’s unilateral independence declaration, during which 20-year-old Zoran Vujović from Novi Sad had lost his life, and also recalled the protest against the arrest of Hague fugitive Radovan Karadžić when 41-year-old Ranko Panić from Mladenovac died.

Hooligans, who, Đilas said, often hid behind the names of sports clubs and various patriotic organizations, had also attacked public buses on three occasions in recent weeks.

On one occasion they had assaulted a father and son, and had thrown firecrackers into the other two, injuring a 16-year-old girl.

“The whole time the state and the authorities did virtually nothing... I think the only ones they caught in those incidents were (Red Star fan) Uroš Mišić and the guy they arrested in the recent attack on the bus near the Belgrade Fair. All the others are probably hatching new plans,“ said the mayor.

“The whole city’s covered in graffiti ’Justice for Uroš’, whose supporters claim the policeman that Mišić attacked, and who barely survived, was mentally ill. People are pulling rackets over Uroš Mišić. I’ve got information that they’ve been asked to contribute money for Mišić’s defense, and if you don’t, you get a beating,“ he said.

“All that’s leading to chaos. Often the clubs themselves are mixed up in that. I read in the papers that they pay their supporters’ lawyers. That’s why we have a situation today where a young man comes to Belgrade and might leave in a coffin,“ lamented Đilas.

The mayor also leveled criticism at daily Politika and its columnist Đorđe Vukadinović, who recently justified Serbian fans whistling the French national anthem. Vukadinović said that the media had deceived the public by focusing on the applause towards the end, when, in his opinion, the whistles had been more widespread.

“That’s a disgrace for Politika. And when you couple that with the other articles, you have a situation where a 12-year-old child in Novi Sad is shooting at the police, while people in bars fear for their lives,“ he said.