In a short space of time, Belgrade was shaken by incidents that resemble scenes from darker periods of the city's everyday life, RTS reminds. Most often, the lowest executors appear before the court, while the principals remain beyond the reach of the judiciary. Are we going back to the dark nineties?
A bomb was found in front of the wine shop in Braničevska Street in Vračar on Monday morning. A few days before that, the bomb dropped thrown at the house of Zdravko Čolić, and detention was ordered for three people. Because of throwing bombs on the cafe "Džeri" in New Belgrade detention was ordered for two people. Macedonian singer Daniel Kajmakoski was kidnapped in Belgrade. In the previous period, several vehicles were set on fire in different parts of the capital.
Speaking about whether these are isolated incidents or a broader pattern of violence, Doctor of Law Nikola Vujičić pointed out for the public service that, in the formal criminal law sense, these cases are viewed separately, but that in a wider social context they indicate a more serious problem.
"When we look at them individually, in the sense of criminal law, they are separate cases. You have a bomb at Zdravko Čolić's house, you have the kidnapping of a singer and other cases of burning cars in Zemun and other parts of the city. On the other hand, they are individual in the sense of criminal law, but in a broader criminological and generally social sense, they are not individual cases at all. We can say, through these examples, that we see a broad level of violence that exists on the streets of the city," says Vujičić in an interview with RTS.
He claims that the causes of such a situation should be sought in several interconnected factors - from the political environment to the social context and media content, which shape the value system.
"The question is what is conducive to all of this, which is perhaps more interesting to point out. It is conducive to several factors. Political factors that are ubiquitous and very problematic in our country. The social context and what is being promoted through the media - I am not referring so much to RTS, but to some other programs that have a national frequency in this country. You have reality programs that simply promote violence, bad values in a society - all the things that should not be, we watch it", asserts the RTS interlocutor.
Vujičić, however, emphasizes that there are also positive examples of effective reactions by competent authorities, but notes that such practice is not consistent in all cases.
"In a short period of time, they found out who the possible perpetrators of the crime were, the police did, let's say, the first part of the job - they ordered detention, they were brought before the prosecutor and after that the judge for the preliminary proceedings ordered detention for all the persons to whom it should have been ordered. Is it like a prompt reaction? Yes, it is and it should be like that. Is it like that always and in all situations? It is not," Vujičić believes.
According to him, the problem is also the lack of reaction of institutions in certain cases that are publicly visible, especially on social networks.
"Through the media and social networks, you see open violence. There is obvious evidence, and the police do not react, neither the prosecution nor the court," the interviewee states.
Referring to the choice of targets in individual attacks, Vujičić indicates that the motives can be different - from financial benefit to intimidation.
"When you look at the kidnapping of a singer, you assume that he has adequate financial income, so that you can take as much money as possible from him. This could be about organized crime, we don't know that," Vujičić said.
He concludes that the burning of bars and cars may indicate extortion or a struggle for supremacy, but warns that no final conclusions should be made without evidence.
"When you see the burning of various bars, it is possible that it is an attempt at extortion. It may be the intimidation of citizens," emphasizes Vujičić.
When it comes to punishment, it indicates that in cases of organized crime, the lowest in the hierarchy are most often responsible.
"You have the situation where the dealer will 'fall' first. And since there are 10 or 20 steps, it is good for the court if it manages to discover even the first step above that dealer, and that is very difficult. It is difficult because of the evidence, it is difficult because the lower ones are afraid of retribution. And if they are guilty, they are afraid of those above," says Vujičić.
Vujičić believes that it is premature to talk about a single organized structure.
"I think that, rather, I would say based on the available data, they are still isolated cases. One example is not enough for us to be able to say that an organized criminal group participated in it," Vujicic points out.
He pays special attention to the role of minors, who he says are suitable targets for recruitment into criminal structures.
"I like to draw a parallel with the education and upbringing of children. It is known what the role of parents is. To bring up a child from a young age... Well, an organized criminal group also educates. It just educates in a different way, it educates someone to be a criminal," the interlocutor claims.
As possible solutions, Vujičić mentions systemic measures that include the media, family, education, institutions and the political environment.
Source: RTS
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