Four students of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education in the blockade were beaten on Thursday (March 27) in the center Novi Sad, reports the Novi Sad information portal 021.rs.
In the evening, they were in a bar in the center where, as they say, they sang: "Whoever doesn't jump is a kid." They add that they were threatened after that.
Milan Stanković, one of the students who was slightly injured, said that it happened between two and three in the morning.
As Stanković stated, two colleagues ended up in the emergency center.
"While we were in the club, we were singing, where we were warned to be careful if SNS beaters came. At the same time, a colleague who was at the entrance saw that someone was filming us. We went outside, we stopped near the fountain, suddenly 10 bigger guys came out with belts in their hands, they asked if there was a problem. We raised our hands and said that there was no problem and we just wanted to have fun. They attacked us with belts. One colleague has a broken jaw. Another colleague is at the neurosurgeon's emergency room, there is a chance that he has internal bleeding," Stanković said and said that they were at the emergency center until half past six in the morning.
Another student, Vanja Vukas, said he was some distance away and a couple of men started "sprinting towards him".
"They chased me through the center, I ran, where the police rounded me up and handcuffed me. I let the police know to look behind and see who was chasing me with belts in hand, but they ignored it and under the pretext of calming me down, they handcuffed me," Vukas said.
He pointed out that we live in an undemocratic state, "where freedom of thought is not respected, and we will not stop until that changes and our demands are met."
By the way, Vukas states that he had a similar situation four months ago when he was attacked by three people in front of the club in Radnička, and one of them was a security guard and was wearing an SNS vest.
"In a calm conversation, I conveyed my views on the blockades and the situation in the country to my colleague. He took offense at that, hit me with an open fist, then two more people came and hit me. I told the policeman that I was attacked by a member of the SNS and he asked me if I was sure that I wanted him to put it on the record," said Vukas and added that to this day there is no solution to this case.
Dacic: It's not true.
Minister of Police Ivica Dacic published the statement of a student who was seriously injured in the hospital after the attack in the center of Novi Sad.
As the minister announced, the police are working to shed light on the event when four students of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education were attacked near the Catholic Gate, "which acquired a political connotation even though it was not mentioned at all when the event was reported".
Dacic states that it is "an absolute lie", which is allegedly confirmed by a statement made by a person who was seriously injured and is in the hospital.
"In his statement, he says that after an hour they came out in front of the bar and agreed on what to do next and that he saw his friend breaking through and that he was very angry," according to the statement signed by Dacic.
Then, he continues, he saw two children of the Roma population running in the direction of them and that the injured one "held the other so that he wouldn't attack them".
"That people came later, a group of 10 of them, that they headed towards his friend and he ran away. If they hit them and asked if they were the ones who ran away, they said they weren't and those people left," Dacic said.
He added that the police have identified one of the boys mentioned by the injured student, and that he will give a statement in accordance with the law.
"In the coming hours, all the facts of this event will be known, but it is already clear that it is a brutal lie and manipulation with the aim of disturbing the public and falsely accusing the authorities of violence. I remind you that giving a false statement is a criminal offense," according to the statement sent late last night.
The President of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, said that "the opposition is trying to provoke a civil war based on lies, stating that the guys who are now being defended by the opposition, as they say, were dead drunk and attacked a child just because he is of Roma nationality."
SNS: Incorrect statements by students
The Novi Sad board of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) announced that the claims of a group of DIF students in certain media that they were beaten by "SNS thugs" are not true, but that they clashed in the Catholic Porta with a group of young men of Roma nationality, whom they had previously insulted on national grounds.
"They did not personally report the alleged attack to the police. Although they are recording everything, they did not document this case with their phones. They did not ask for medical help, but the police called the ambulance, which went to the scene," he claimed in a statement in SNS, reports FoNet.
The Novi Sad board of the ruling party states that DIF students, under the influence of alcohol, stopped by the "Tata Brada" bar, where they started causing problems, so the staff asked them to leave the bar so as not to disturb other guests.
We expect the police to file criminal charges against the slanderers and liars for disturbing the public. We expect the police, as well as competent institutions for the protection of human rights, political parties, journalist associations and media houses to condemn racial discrimination and the attack on Roma, according to the SNS announcement.
MUP: Everything is in the official note
The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that the police officers of the PU Novi Sad were sent to Katolicka Porta at around 2.25:XNUMX a.m. last night, from where an unknown person reported that several people were fighting.
"In connection with this, the police made an official note stating that the police, on Theater Square, found four young men, three of whom had visible injuries, and they were also visibly intoxicated," the MUP said in a statement.
As the statement further states, "according to the statement of the fourth, who was not injured, they had previously entered into a verbal conflict in Laze Telečki Street with several persons, as they said, of Roma nationality, who then physically attacked them and hit them several times with hands, feet and belts."
An ambulance team was called to the scene, and the victims were told to report to the police after receiving medical help and sobering up, in order to give a statement about this event, according to the MUP.
As reported, the competent public prosecutor was informed about everything, who ordered that, after ascertaining the severity of the injuries, it should be reported again, in order to qualify the event.
"During the day, the police called the injured parties by phone, of whom only one answered, who was supposed to come to the office at 17:XNUMX p.m., but he did not show up until this moment," the statement added.
It is added that the Police Department in Novi Sad is taking all measures and actions within its legal jurisdiction to shed light on this event and prosecute the suspects.
"All this was written down in the official official note from last night, and no other details regarding the politicization of this event were mentioned during the statement on the spot during the night," the MUP points out in a statement.
KCV: One student remains under hospital treatment
The Clinical Center of Vojvodina (KCV) announced this evening that one of the three patients admitted to the Emergency Center the previous night was kept for treatment.
In the KCV press release, it is written that the patient with serious injuries is in a stable condition and is being treated at the hospital, reports N1.
It is added that "the other two patients with minor physical injuries were released for further treatment at home".
Students call for protest
Students in the blockade of the faculty of the University of Novi Sad gathered at the campus at 20 pm and headed towards the city center, where from 21 pm they will protest in the Catholic Gate due to the beating of their colleagues, writes 021.rs.
After gathering in the University campus, students, citizens and bikers set off in a column towards the city center.
The students also carry a banner that reads: "Whoever doesn't jump, is the one who falls".
Source: 021.rs/N1/FoNet
