Stanislava Staša Zajović is this year's winner of the "Winning of Freedom" award for her work on the promotion of human rights, the rule of law, democracy and tolerance in political communication, as written in the explanation.
Staša Zajović is synonymous with "Women in Black", a non-governmental organization whose members took to the streets for the first time on October 9, 1991, against the war and the Serbian regime. Until now, they had about 2500 shares.
Receiving the award, Staša Zajović said that she does not receive awards in Serbia, and for the ones she does receive, she speaks in other languages at the awards. One of the first is the First Millennium Peace Prize of UNIFEM, a specialized agency of the UN, in 2001.
Two-thirds of the "Women in Black" actions were dedicated to confronting war crimes.
"We thought that with the fall of Slobodan Milošević's regime, the climate would change, that society would treat the subject humanely and fairly. But, after Zoran Djindjic, everything went back to the way it was. Crimes are amnestied and criminals are celebrated. And, in such a situation, what is left for us but to disturb the public and the regime and constantly, with our presence, remind them of what they are," says Staša Zajović.
The actions and performances of the "Woman in Black" cause, to put it mildly, the dissension of dissidents. They recently published the "Attack File", a book about the "continuity of attacks and pressures. There are all kinds of them, from verbal and physical, to administrative and public shaming. During the time of Vojislav Koštunica, our March 2008 march was banned in XNUMX. It didn't even happen in Kabul then."
Staša Zajović says that no one has ever been prosecuted for the attack on them, not even Radovan Počuča, who publicly called on people to lynch them in 2014. "He received an acquittal before the High Court," says Zajović.
"We have been experiencing repression since day one." Now, under the current government, it is somehow legitimate due to the combination of paraformations and hooligans. In this regime they are freed from responsibility, their behavior is even desirable. We experienced all kinds of things: demonization, public defamation, humiliation, stigmatization as a foreign body in the state. It is a low intensity war strategy. I just wonder if we are important to a regime that has all the institutions and the majority of voters?"
In these attacks, Zajović also recognizes gender violence. "Women who speak publicly, loudly, clearly and directly and do what we do, who violate palanquin moralism, patriotic rhetoric and all forms of hypocritical moralism, they are a great nuisance to any dissenter."
They deliberately operate from the margins. "That's the only way a small group, which really has a lot of support from like-minded people and other organizations, can work in this kind of environment." In a country where reconciliation with crime is more comprehensive and present than unrest, that is the best position."
What kind of "different Serbia" is it that they are fighting for? "You're asking me if I can at least imagine her?" This is a Serbia that does not put up with war crimes, that does not insult humanity, sympathizes with victims who were declared non-existent. It is a shame that Serbia is the only country in Europe where the war crime of rape is not recognized. Those who raped then continued to do so afterwards. It's a continuum of violence."
Staša Zajović talks about the continuing hatred that started in the nineties, and about the current strengthening of nationalism and the right. "People are afraid. That's why everything we do is a fight against that powerlessness, a fight for our own integrity, dignity. You know, we who are leading that fight may be invisible, but our network is huge. It is a fight for one's own freedom."
Otherwise, says Staša Zajović, freedom cannot be won. "But if we manage to encourage people to come out of silence and fear, and to publicly, clearly, loudly and directly oppose the politics of crime and the celebration of criminals, that is a very significant act of winning freedom."
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