Partizan fans hurl insults at B92 reporter

BELGRADE Members of Partizan FC fan group dubbed Alcatraz hurled insults at B92 and B92 TV reporter Brankica Stankovic at a protest in Belgrade on Wednesday. The Alcatraz members joined a protest of families and friends of men convicted for the murder of French football supporter Brice Taton. Partizan fans hurl insults at B92 reporter They first walked from Terazije Square to Republic Square and carried banners saying “Why is court ignoring evidence?”, “We want the truth”, “Justice for Grobari (Partizan fans)”. The police provided safety during the protest but the protesters started hurling insults at B92 TV and Stankovic, Beta news agency has reported. The fans then joined the protest at Republic Square organized by families and friends of the convicted men who demand a retrial. Alcatraz leaders called for the murder of Stankovic, author of B92 TV’s investigative program Insider, during a match between Partizan and Shakhtar in December 2009. They chanted “You are dangerous snake and will end up like Curuvija" (a murdered Serbian journalist) and kicked and stabbed an inflatable doll that represented Stankovic. The convicted men’s defense attorneys filed a motion for a retrial to the Higher Court in Belgrade on August 30 but the court still has not decided on it. If the court accepts the motion, the trial will be repeated for all 14 Partizan fans who took part in a mass fight in downtown Belgrade on September 17, 2009 when the Frenchman was beaten to death. The defense attorneys have requested a retrial because neither the Higher Court in Belgrade nor the Appellate Court took into consideration a statement of a parking garage security guard or a transcript of a call to the Emergency Services made by a passerby who said that Taton had fallen over the railing, not that he had been thrown. They claim that they received the transcript from the Emergency Services, signed by the institution’s director. According to the verdict, the perpetrators surrounded Taton, kicked and hit him while he was on the ground and threw ashtrays and glasses at him. They also used baseball bats and torches to hit him. Then they dragged him and pushed him into a stairway railing before they intentionally threw him into a space between an underground garage and the staircase which was 2.28 meters deep. The perpetrators then run away. Taton suffered massive head and other injuries and died in the Belgrade Clinical Center 12 days later. A scene from the protest (Beta) B92 Beta

Partizan fans hurl insults at B92 reporter

They first walked from Terazije Square to Republic Square and carried banners saying “Why is court ignoring evidence?”, “We want the truth”, “Justice for Grobari (Partizan fans)”.

The police provided safety during the protest but the protesters started hurling insults at B92 TV and Stanković, Beta news agency has reported.

The fans then joined the protest at Republic Square organized by families and friends of the convicted men who demand a retrial.

Alcatraz leaders called for the murder of Stanković, author of B92 TV’s investigative program Insider, during a match between Partizan and Shakhtar in December 2009. They chanted “You are dangerous snake and will end up like Ćuruvija" (a murdered Serbian journalist) and kicked and stabbed an inflatable doll that represented Stanković.

The convicted men’s defense attorneys filed a motion for a retrial to the Higher Court in Belgrade on August 30 but the court still has not decided on it. If the court accepts the motion, the trial will be repeated for all 14 Partizan fans who took part in a mass fight in downtown Belgrade on September 17, 2009 when the Frenchman was beaten to death.

The defense attorneys have requested a retrial because neither the Higher Court in Belgrade nor the Appellate Court took into consideration a statement of a parking garage security guard or a transcript of a call to the Emergency Services made by a passerby who said that Taton had fallen over the railing, not that he had been thrown.

They claim that they received the transcript from the Emergency Services, signed by the institution’s director.

According to the verdict, the perpetrators surrounded Taton, kicked and hit him while he was on the ground and threw ashtrays and glasses at him. They also used baseball bats and torches to hit him. Then they dragged him and pushed him into a stairway railing before they intentionally threw him into a space between an underground garage and the staircase which was 2.28 meters deep. The perpetrators then run away. Taton suffered massive head and other injuries and died in the Belgrade Clinical Center 12 days later.