Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (Crta) announced that it had suspended the work of its observation mission on local elections in Mionica due to the "violence of criminals and illegal behavior of the police".
Program director of Crta Raša Nedeljkov, who is located in Mionics he stated for N1 that they withdrew observers from the polling station for their safety.
He added that Crta observers were attacked near polling station number 33, and yes police she did not want to make an official note, even though they are only 20 meters from the place of the incident.
"With a lump in my throat talking about this case, bearing in mind that we came here to be with the citizens of Mionica and it was not easy for us to make this decision. It was not easy for us to make the decision to withdraw the observers from all polling stations, but we did it while taking into account their safety," he said.
As he described, at polling station number 33, "criminals attacked two Crta observers", by surrounding them with two vehicles and not allowing them to leave the parking area.
"Then they started banging on the windows trying to open the vehicle. We had a similar scene in December 2023 in Karavukovo when masked people in a BMW drove our observers to the police station where the policemen did not react and to this day that crime has not been solved," said Nedeljkov.
As he said, today four police officers were 20 meters away from the female observers who were calling for "help", but they did not react.
"When we went to the spot where our female observers are located, about thirty vehicles took shelter from that plateau and it was clear that they were in coordination - not only with each other, but also with the police. We interpret this event as the cooperation of the police with criminals. When our lawyers with the female observers tried to report this case, the police did not want to make an official note under the pretext that they did not have inspectors available," he said.
As he pointed out, "someone has created an atmosphere in Mionica as if you are in a war zone, because men are parading with hoods and scarves pulled over their faces."
"These are circumstances that we cannot normalize, this must stop," he added.
Legal teams remain in Mionica, but polling station observers will withdraw, he noted.
"It is clear that the entire election process is contaminated," he concluded.
Suspended operation of Crta in Mionica
"Due to the fact that the safety of our observers is seriously threatened, we have decided to suspend the work of the Crte Observation Mission in Mionica, that is, to withdraw observers from all polling stations and from mobile teams," the organization's announcement stated.
According to Crta, that decision was made after a mobile team of Crta observers in Mionica was attacked by a group of unknown men.
"They blocked the passage and tried to break the windows of the car in which the two girls were, and that in front of the police, who did not react - neither did they protect the onlookers, nor did they even legitimize the thugs," the statement said.
Moreover, as it was emphasized, the observers of the Line witnessed "the tacit cooperation of the police and bully which looks, behavior and expensive cars (many s Bosnian and Herzegovinian and Belgrade plates) give the impression of members of organized crime".
"At the moment when our female colleagues were attacked in the parking lot in front of the D_lux restaurant, there were about 30 such cars parked and the space was filled with aggressive men," stated Crta.
The police officers who witnessed the attack pretended not to see anything and "gaslighted" the representatives of the Croatian Mission who soon appeared on the scene.
Also, the police officers in the station refused the express request of Crta's lawyer to make an official note about the event.
By the way, according to Crta, since early morning Mionica has been full of men with caps, almost "uniformized" in black, who move in large groups, and Crta observers are not the only victims of attacks and threats.
Although withdrawing observers, Crta's legal team remains on the ground and will be available to the citizens of Mionica whose voting rights are threatened, that organization stated.
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