Protest "Break the chains" in support of the detainee Bogdan Jovicic, a student of the Faculty of Technical Sciences from Novi Sad, who has been on hunger strike for the past few days, as well as the student To Pavle Cicvarić to whom threatened with death in the Informer television program, was held on Thursday (September 18) in several cities in Serbia.
The students invited citizens to two rallies in Belgrade, in front of the Faculty of Law and on Avijatičarski Square in Zemun, starting at 18 p.m., while in Novi Sad, a protest was organized on the campus at 18.30:XNUMX p.m. Last night, protests in support of the two students were also held in Niš, Kragujevac, Čačak and Užice.
Students presented four demands at the protests. The first request is that Bogdan Jovicic, a student who has been on hunger strike for six days, be allowed to defend himself from freedom.
The second demand is the release of all farmers detained on September 15 to defend themselves.
The third request refers to the release of citizens who are charged with attempted murder due to the alleged attack on Cobra members, to defend themselves.
The fourth student request refers to the amendment of the Criminal Code and the withdrawal of the following disputed amendments:
1. Amendment of Article 290, which prescribes the criminal offense Endangering traffic with a dangerous act and a dangerous means. With the adoption of this amendment, any roadblock would be a criminal offense punishable by up to one year in prison. Namely, this amendment deletes the previous condition for the emergence of criminal liability, which is that the life or body of people or property of a larger scale is endangered by endangering traffic.
2. Serbia committed itself to the Istanbul Convention to change the definition of rape. Instead, it is proposed to introduce a new criminal offense of Commitment without consent (Article 178a). This criminal offense carries a lesser sentence (3-12 years) and the current, controversial and outdated definition of rape remains unchanged.
3. Repeated attempt to introduce a new criminal offense Publication of materials advising the commission of a criminal offense (Article 343a). A prison sentence of up to 3 years is prescribed for this crime.
The case of Bogdan Jovicic
A student of the Faculty of Technical Sciences, Bogdan Jovičić, was arrested after the protest on August 14 on the charge of demolishing the premises of the Serbian Progressive Party in Novi Sad, and is charged with violent behavior at a public meeting. After his detention was extended, Jovicic went on a hunger strike. He is on Wednesday (September 17) transferred to the Special Prison Hospital in the late afternoon.
The case of this student raised additional dust when photos appeared on social networks showing how Jovicic was brought from the detention unit to the funeral of his father, who has since passed away, with chains on his legs.
Given that the photograph attracted the attention of the public, the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions of the Ministry of Justice announced this case.
In the announcement of the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions, they stated that Bogdan was handcuffed so that he would not escape.
"Members of the Security Service are obliged to observe security procedures during the removal of a person from the detention unit outside the prison, and this includes the use of handcuffs intended for both the hands and feet so that the person does not escape. If the members of the Security Service did not do so in the prescribed manner, they would bear disciplinary responsibility, which in such a deviation from the security procedure during the execution of a person would also mean the loss of their job," they stated in their response to the Beta agency.
Milena Vasić from the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights - YUCOM stated that foot binding is practiced only when dealing with particularly aggressive persons who provide an opening and when there is a risk of escape or self-harm.
"There must be an explanation why it is considered that the person is at risk of escaping. Given that this is an extreme form of binding and that it is a very delicate situation such as the funeral of a close family member, I consider that the dignity of the person has been violated. The person was brought late, and then he was brought with his feet tied, so first of all the emotional situation itself is very delicate, and then we also have the fact that these are family, friends, acquaintances in general, and this is a form of diminishing the dignity of the person", concludes Vasić.
In the meantime, part of the employees at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad launched the "Appeal for the Defense of Rights, Freedom and Dignity", demanding that student Bogdan Jovičić defend himself from freedom. Their colleagues from other higher education institutions in Serbia joined the appeal, and more than 1600 signatures of support have been collected so far.
Sources: Danas/Vreme
