Strike a lawyer due to the fact that their colleague from Užice, Radovan Novaković, was appointed detention up to 30 days will last until July 12 at noon, and then it will be known whether the strike will continue, if Novaković is not released, say "Vremena" interlocutors.
Lawyer Nikola Dagović, the defender of lawyer and councilor Radovan Novaković and activist Marko Radovanović, says that - after the statement of the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić that he "doesn't care" about the strike - some concrete proposal and direction in which the matter will develop further is expected, but that nothing is known about it yet.
Every appearance of Vučić on television is a pressure on the entire public
Dagović assessed that every appearance of Vučić on television is perceived not only by lawyers, but also by all citizens as a form of pressure, and emphasizes that it is obvious that the entire society must be involved in the fight against such pressures.
"We, as lawyers, cannot explain that they are an independent branch of government, if they themselves do not feel that way, if they do not feel that they are not dependent on either the executive or the legislative power," says Dagović.
He points out that the structure of the people who were arrested in Užice is very interesting.
"There is a lawyer who is also a councillor, then another councilor of the opposition party, one student, one professor and one biker, Marko Radovanović. Those people did nothing really to cause all this to happen. The police acted illegally, they blocked the road on the orders of the minister, and there was no excessive violence, and the police, after all, took refuge themselves. The only violence was the Kraljevo Gendarmerie, which brutally removed the citizens who were sitting peacefully on the street," says Dagović.
Classic political prisoners
He emphasizes that that night in Užice, those people who were arrested protested in front of the police station until late at night.
"Novaković, who is accused of attacking a policeman and will attack a policeman again, which is why he was detained, that night he talked to several policemen, because two citizens of Užice were previously arrested, and because of which they insisted on their arrest. Here we are talking about classic police prisoners. The message is not to protest, to stay at home and to get out of the street if the police appear on it illegally, and in our area such a message is not he accepts easily," says Dagović.
When it comes to ordering custody, Dagović notes that the court in Užice is very specific about it, and indicates that ordering custody for Novaković and the others is not significantly different from other decisions when a proposal for ordering custody appears.
"This decision is significantly different, because it is not explained, the reasons for which it was made are not given. The practice in Užice of proposing detention as a last resort is very common, but, unfortunately, detention as a last resort is used in any way other than as a last resort. The goal of removing those who are detained from the streets is to get the people off the streets, because it is considered that the detainees are the leaders of the people, although they are not. Daily protests and speeches are organized for the sake of the citizens of Užice," he says. Dagovic.
Rotten compromise
He notes that there are other measures besides detention that would keep detainees off the streets, but emphasizes that he thinks that as much as there is no reason for detention, there is no reason for any other, milder measure either.
"That would only represent a rotten compromise, because we would accept a milder measure, and the consequence is the same in the end - preventing people from freely expressing their opinions and gathering," concludes Dagović.
Light detention order
Lawyer Marko Pantić tells "Vreme" that he and his colleagues expect Novaković to be released as soon as possible.
"As is known, detention is a measure to ensure the presence of the accused in a criminal proceeding and for the smooth conduct of that proceeding. The purpose for which detention was ordered can absolutely be fulfilled with a milder measure, such as a ban on participating in protests or a ban on leaving the apartment, the so-called nanogica, and therefore there is no need for colleague Novaković to be in custody," Pantić points out.
He assesses that in the case of Novakovic, as well as in numerous other cases, the measure of detention is determined too lightly, because it is used as a means of intimidation both for those who have been detained and for an unlimited number of other people.
"That measure says that if a lawyer is in custody, you can all be in custody. If the intention is to prevent people from taking part in protests, then there are other measures besides detention, since there is no real fear that Novakovic will go to a protest every time with the desire to clash with the police. Even if there is, it can be solved by placing a leg, because no one from the house can clash with anyone. Only then, if someone violates the curfew apartment, detention should be ordered"; says Pantić.
He warns that indiscriminate detention is generally a problem in our justice system.
"It is important to note that detention is not a punishment. If the entire procedure is carried out, the prosecutor proves that the suspect is guilty and the court rules that the convicted person should go to prison, then there is nothing controversial. Detention is often a kind of factual prejudging of the conviction, and in Novaković's case there may not be any evidence that he is guilty," Pantić concludes.
