Prosecutor calls for ban on “extremist fans”

Public Prosecutor Slobodan Radovanovic has announced a ban on extremist sub-groups of Red Star, Partizan and Rad fans. Radovanovic said that the Council for Preventing Violence in Sport had accepted the initiative. Prosecutor calls for ban on “extremist fans” The prosecutor pointed out that certain sub-groups of Red Star, Partizan and Rad fans were on the police’s records. The main culprits, he said, were believed to be the Ultra Boys, Belgrade Boys, Alcatraz, Anti Romi, Ludaci Padinska Skela, adding that there were many such groups. Stressing that his proposal was based on police reports over the past three years, the prosecutor said that he would be checking charges brought against members of the fan groups to ensure they were being handled effectively. “I will be checking all criminal proceedings against these troublemakers, to see whether they’ve served their sentences or if any proceedings were dropped,” Radovanovic told a press conference after a meeting between the council and the government. He stressed that the initiative did not apply to fans who went to matches out of true sporting interest, because they were also threatened by so called fan sub-groups. Radovanovic repeated that all the authorities were determined to stand up to violence in sports, and that the first step was eliminating these sub-groups and banning the most extreme members from matches. He said that dozens of citizens and police officers had been injured and seven killed as a result of incidents caused by fans between 2006 and 2009. Youth and Sports Minister Snezana Samardzic-Markovic expects this initative to come before the Constitutional Court soon. She also announced the adoption of an action plan to prevent violence in sports at the next meeting of the Council, the first goal of which would be the outlawing of extremist groups. She added that the first international conference on combating violence and racism in sports, an initiative by the Council of Europe, would be held in Belgrade on October 20-21.

Prosecutor calls for ban on “extremist fans”

The prosecutor pointed out that certain sub-groups of Red Star, Partizan and Rad fans were on the police’s records.

The main culprits, he said, were believed to be the Ultra Boys, Belgrade Boys, Alcatraz, Anti Romi, Ludaci Padinska Skela, adding that there were many such groups.

Stressing that his proposal was based on police reports over the past three years, the prosecutor said that he would be checking charges brought against members of the fan groups to ensure they were being handled effectively.

“I will be checking all criminal proceedings against these troublemakers, to see whether they’ve served their sentences or if any proceedings were dropped,” Radovanović told a press conference after a meeting between the council and the government.

He stressed that the initiative did not apply to fans who went to matches out of true sporting interest, because they were also threatened by so called fan sub-groups.

Radovanović repeated that all the authorities were determined to stand up to violence in sports, and that the first step was eliminating these sub-groups and banning the most extreme members from matches.

He said that dozens of citizens and police officers had been injured and seven killed as a result of incidents caused by fans between 2006 and 2009.

Youth and Sports Minister Snežana Samardžić-Marković expects this initative to come before the Constitutional Court soon. She also announced the adoption of an action plan to prevent violence in sports at the next meeting of the Council, the first goal of which would be the outlawing of extremist groups.

She added that the first international conference on combating violence and racism in sports, an initiative by the Council of Europe, would be held in Belgrade on October 20-21.