Protests have been going on for weeks in Surdulica traffic accidents (February 9) in which Rastko Jović was killed. Namely, he was hit by a car and killed by his fellow citizen, a 20-year-old driver of Albanian nationality from Prizren. He is currently in custody, but that did not reassure the citizens. Instead of in front of the Police Department in Surdulica - whose members claim that for years they allegedly did not punish this family for reckless driving, protecting them "because of the burek casserole" - the protests were organized in front of his uncle Liridon's bakery. Among the demands of the protest were that the family be permanently evicted and that their bakeries be boycotted.
Anyone who condemns the attack on this family ends up in the "Justice for Rastka" Viber group, sharing pictures of those people and their private information. For this reason, the group also targeted a student of the University of Belgrade from Surdulica, and wrote to his mother, who also condemned violence against the family on the networks, considering that it was a case of "A Serb kill a Serb", everything would only end with a prison sentence.
The bakery was pelted with eggs during a protest (February 11), and after the protest a group of people went in front of the owner's house and pelted it with oysters and eggs, as some fellow citizens and the owner Liridon himself told the editorial office. Even the man who transported his wife and his children to safety was branded as a "traitor to his fellow citizens", as were all the other residents of Surdu who protested that the protest was being conducted against this family.
Citizens from the Viber group organized themselves to photograph customers "in the Albanian bakery", introducing "night shifts" during which they toured the bakery, and then published the pictures in the group. According to some citizens and Liridon himself, his family was taken to safety, but during the attempt of his friend to transport Liridon's wife and children, the vehicle was attacked. After that, his children were upset for days and did not go to school.
"OUR","YOURS" I "THEIR" BAKERIES
In the Viber group where the protests are organized, there is a minister without portfolio, Novica Tončev. There he also wrote that "he is with his people from Surdulica, because he lives there". In his answer to "Vreme", he stated that he advocates that tragedies do not go unpunished and that the authorities do their job responsibly. However, since it is known that the guy who took part in the traffic accident is already in custody, it is not clear what Toncev means.
He also commented that "our bakery should work, it has the most beautiful bread and pastries and the municipality is now helping them with a million dinars to survive", probably referring to the bakery in Surdulica, which has been privatized. As if bakeries can be "ours", "yours" and "theirs". This was followed by supportive comments from group members. After that, the minister did not advertise in the group anymore, but gave statements to the media.
Liridon believes that justice is not sought for the person who has passed away and a harsher punishment, but that they should be deported because of their nationality. He calls on the state to protect them. The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Milan Antonijević, as well as the Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Demo Beriš, spoke about this case. The Civic Initiatives also spoke out, condemning "public calls for lynching and permanent eviction of relatives of the detainee". Katarina Golubović from the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights says that here we can already talk about hate crimes and that in this situation the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office should react.
At the meeting, lawyer Milan Tasić demanded the irrevocable resignation of the entire police leadership in Surdulica "as a moral act due to the murder of Rastko Jović", in addition to the demand that "for security reasons, the family and the closest family of the murderer Rastko Jović permanently move out of the municipality of Surdulica, because he doubts that after a serious premeditated murder, any court will ever be able to provide them with safety".
Citizens also asked the management of the Health Center in Vladičin Han who was the shift driver on the day of the accident and why the ambulance "was 45 minutes late". They stated that the man was alive all that time and was dying in agony without medical help.
ARE THE VOICES OF REASON RETURNING?
After the next protest on Monday (February 16), a new incident happened: several citizens brought a table in front of the "Park" bakery, claiming that they were going to "camp" there. That evening, the owner of the bakery took refuge outside Surdulica, accompanied by the police.
Surudlica residents who oppose such protests say that the Albanians may leave Surdulica after everything, but that the same system will remain. Namely, "the same Emergency Service will not arrive on time next time and perhaps try to save someone's life in such a situation, the same police will continue to tolerate the arrogance and insolence of some other characters, mom's and dad's sons and local junkies".
They believe that the tragedy should not be misused to spread ethnically colored messages and that the anger should be redirected to institutions, not to the family, because the consequence of this behavior will be that national minorities in Serbia feel unsafe. They also pointed out that the writing of "Vremen" "prevented the situation" and contributed to "calm down" at least a little.
The prosecutor's office in Vladicin Han issued a statement (February 19) for "presenting unverified information via social networks". They stated that the traffic accident is being investigated for a serious crime against public traffic safety and that the suspect has a driver's license from Kosovo "which was immediately taken away from him by the police during the investigation". They ordered an expert examination "in order to determine the cause of the traffic accident, the speed of movement of the vehicle driven by the suspect, as well as the fact whether the person who died was given timely medical assistance." According to them, the suspect was remanded in custody, and the prosecution "in this, as in all proceedings, takes into account the presumption of innocence".
A new protest in Surdulica was announced on Thursday, February 26 at 16 p.m.
photo: private archiveDejana Cvetković
Streets of Surdulica
After writing "Vremen", in the Viber group they warned each other to be more careful "because journalists are inciting riots", and called for a peaceful protest without incident. Then they shared the posts on social networks and the personal data of the author of this text.
Surdulica is a multi-ethnic area where members of the Serbian, Bulgarian, Roma and Albanian communities live together. In such an atmosphere, professional reporting is perceived as "taking sides", and any attempt to publicly name chauvinism becomes a reason for attacks.
Reporting from the protest (on February 14) while you are being whistled at, insulted and threatened, was really difficult. I managed to take statements from citizens before the protest. In the protest walk, in which they visited three of the four bakeries in Surdulica, the citizens showed great contempt for the police because they believe that they are protecting this family, and at one point part of the crowd directed their anger towards me. I tried to calm them down and invited those who disagreed with the reporting of "Vremen" to make a statement, but instead of a statement I received insults.
They interrupted me while I was filming, they called me "garbage", "liar", they said that they would sue me if I published pictures and recordings, and that I should not be the only one to film, they threatened to break my equipment and "buy a new one". They told me to "come and exchange numbers" because they "already have mine". They asked me "am I wearing a thong" from the crowd and commented that in the end it would turn out "that I was raped". They shouted: "Rape!"
Some citizens who approached me after the protest asked me to slow down while we were talking so that they would not be seen with me. A group of citizens approached me, as well as attackers. I thought they were going to continue harassing me, but instead they apologized for "these others who overdid it".
I tried all the time to run next to the N1 team and another colleague from "Slobodna rece", so that I wouldn't be alone so that they wouldn't really break my equipment, which I can't work without.
Insults and threats
In the Viber group, the author's texts about minorities were shared, some of which were translated with the comment that "the Albanians are paying them coldly". I did not want to report because I expected the situation to calm down.
However, when the journalist of the InfoVranjska portal published an article about the attack on me, threats were sent to him over the phone "that both he and I will fuck my mother" and that he "should kill the child, so he can see how it is". ANEM reported these threats to the police.
The Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Vladičin Han invited me on my official duty to give a statement in my capacity as a citizen regarding everything that happened on February 14. In connection with this case, NUNS, UNS, ANEM, EFJ and other organizations responded, demanding an immediate response from the competent institutions.
