Zorana Mihajlović, Deputy Prime Minister of the Serbian Government and Minister of Mining and Energy, accused Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, MP and environmental activist, of the attack that took place last night on Mount Starica - Severni Revir near Majdanpek, when an employee of the company "Ziđin" was beaten and a hydraulic excavator was set on fire.
Mihajlović said that "Ćuta's Protestants and the so-called activists have been threatening the safety of workers for weeks and threatening with weapons, which is why 60 people are already out of work, and after the attack that happened last night, hundreds of people may lose their jobs, which proves that the goal is to stop mining in Majdanpek. This is not activism, nor a fight for the environment, but vandalism and breaking the law."
Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta told the "Vremena" portal that he read about the incident in the newspaper, that he knew nothing about the beaten worker, that he heard that the police had carried out an investigation, and that he saw a photo of a burning excavator.
This is how Zorana Mihajlović comments on the accusation:
"Behind what Minister Zorana Mihajlović says is still life and unhappy people." For ten years, she has been inciting both foreign and private companies to destroy our natural resources. Did she ask the citizens of Majdanpek before she allowed Zijing to dig for gold? Who is that gold going to? This is a question for Minister Vulin, whom we have been calling for two months to prevent this destruction of Starica. Did Minister Mihajlović think of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study before she allowed Stanica to be mined?"
Jovanović says that a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee for Environmental Protection will be held on Thursday in Majdanpek, so he expects that a lot of important things will be learned there for "these people who have been defending the mountain and their living space with their bodies for three months".
According to the "Ziđin Srbija" company, the injured worker told the police that he was attacked by three masked men in black hoods and masks over their faces, that they were armed with a metal pipe, a lit torch and a gun, that they demanded that he leave the driller's cabin, after which they hit him several times and intimidated him with a lit torch.
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