Today, March 6, the first preliminary hearing will be held on the lawsuit filed by Branislav Lečić "for injury to honor and reputation" after his colleague, actress Anđela Jovanović, refused to play with him in the television series "Radio Mileva" broadcast by RTS .
"I refused to play because of an unpleasant past incident I had with him." Neither now, nor anytime in the future, I want to be in the same frame with that man, both because of what I went through, and because of what my colleagues accused him of", said Anđela Jovanović for "Blic".
Jelena Riznić from Women's Solidarity tells "Vreme" that it is important to return to how the justice system works in our country. It seems to her that we are almost always critical of the decisions of the criminal justice system when it comes to prosecuting various mafia groups, politicians or sons of figures close to the regime who kill people on the street, the president's godfathers who are under the influence of narcotics and others.
IMG_7691Branislav Lečić: Sued Anđela Jovanović for "injury of reputation and honor" / Photo: Screenshot/Yotube/Blic TV
"Then we are sure that the system is not right. However, when it is the turn of the same system to make a decision regarding violence against women, especially sexual violence, suddenly there is absolute trust in the system and the judgments it makes," Riznić points out.
He adds that Anđela Jovanović's decision, as well as the massive support of colleagues from the industry, indicates the (un)justice of the system and how women sometimes continue the fight against violence with non-institutional means at their disposal.
"In the case of Anđela Jovanović, it is integrity. Here, however, it is additionally interesting how bullies have at their disposal a whole range of weapons to defend their own status, both institutional and non-institutional," says our interlocutor.
Support Anđela Jovanović
Women's Solidarity, Tampon Zone, but also many colleagues - Mirjana Karanović, Sloboda Mićalović, Milena Radulović supported Anđela. Among them is Daniela Steinfeld, who accused Branisalva Lečić of rape, but the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office rejected her criminal complaint.
Steinfeld wrote alongside the photo of her colleague Jovanović: "Thank you for the strength to say 'no'."
When asked if this can encourage other women to speak out publicly, Riznić says that experience shows that reactions are always chain reactions.
"We saw that actress Milena Radulović stressed that Lečić is known in acting circles for such behavior and that many younger female colleagues had bad experiences with him. We also saw a wave of support from all sides. This already speaks of the strength of Angela's act and I am sure that in the future solidarity will only build even more", indicates our interlocutor.
Finally, when it comes to actions, Women's Solidarity will always be where support is needed, says Riznić, which in the case of Anđela Jovanović means at the hearings, but also as an additional level of pressure on the authorities if necessary.
