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Team Kreni – Promeni and UZUZ presented a petition against police brutality during the July protests before Serbian and international institutions.
The Kreni-Promeni team and the Association for the Protection of Constitutionality and Legality (UZUZ) today presented a petition to the police director, Vladimir Rebić, to the United Nations and the European Union, “Stop police violence”, demanding an independent investigation into “police brutality in the July protests.”
Photo: FoNet / Aleksandar LevajkovicThe petition, which was presented with a performance at Pioneer Park, was signed by nearly 11,000 people. The participants of the function carried banners and white masks on their faces that said “bruises pass, wounds heal, actions go unpunished”, “we have not forgotten”, “this could have been you.”
Marina Pavlić, executive director of Kreni-Promeni, told reporters that Rebić’s signatures were delivered with a request for access to information of public importance requesting information on what happened in the July protests in front of the Serbian Parliament, as well as cases of police brutality. He stressed that he expects concrete responses from Rebić and launch an independent investigation from the international community.
The petition was sent electronically to Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, the President of the European Parliament, David Sasolli, and the Director General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, Christian Danielson, to whom several NGOs submitted documented reports of police violence.
The president of the Association for the Protection of Constitutionality and Legality, Savo Manojlović, told reporters at Pionirski Park that the petition was a response to the fact that the institutions in Serbia “will not do their job.”
According to him, the petition is a message that the citizens of Serbia will not allow themselves to be harassed by those who are paid to protect them.
As noted, the Republic Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac “whom we have not seen in all these years” gave a statement on the July demonstrations, so the message, added Manojlović, is “we will believe Zagorka Dolovac or with our own eyes “.
The text of the petition, among other things, indicates that thousands of people of all ages, including the elderly, youth and children, were present at the protests, which arose as a spontaneous reaction to the decision of the competent authorities to reintroduce the touch of remains.
“The use of force carried out in those days by members of the police was inappropriate and was used mainly against citizens who protested peacefully and who made use of their constitutional right to protest. In three days, on July 7, 8 and 9, members of the police tolerated the attacks by the thugs, and then fired tear gas and brutally beat the citizens in various situations, ”the petition reads.
It is emphasized that there are recordings and evidence that tear gas was used, which expired more than five years ago, as well as that the police brutally beat passersby at random and abused them with disproportionate force.
Support for the diaspora
In addition to the events in Pioneer Park, yesterday, representatives of the Democracy4Serbia diaspora also supported the presentation of the petition in Boston, New York and Holland. World-famous Belgrade actress Bojana Novaković supported the petition from the beginning, and also participated in the July diaspora protests in front of the UN building in New York. He also supported the performance at Pioneer Park and the filing of the petition from New York yesterday.
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