The chronology of attacks on activists of the Youth Initiative for Human

Rights at the public event of the Serbian Progressive Party in Beška and
the events that are happening consequently

1. After the ruling Serbian Progressive Party announced on social networks that Veselin Sljivancanin
(convicted war criminal before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for 10
years imprisonment) is going to be a speaker at their event at the Cultural Center of Beška,
several peace organizations including the Initiative issued a joint statement, urging the SNS to
cancel the event, arguing that it is unacceptable for a war criminal to participate in a political
campaign.

2. The SNS ignored the appeal of NGOs, which prompted the 9 activists of the Initiative from
Belgrade to go to Beška with the banner "War Criminals to Stay in Silent in order for Victims to
Speak Out".

3. At the crowded Beška Cultural Center, after Sljivančanin began his speech, the activists of the
Initiative began to blow whistles, and two activists developed a banner. SNS activists from the
audience immediately tear down the banner, surrounded and attacked activists who were in the
front of the venue.

4. Four activists who were in the back part of the venue were immediately forcefully thrown out,
while the other four in the front were hit by fists and foot while they were ejected. An activist was
thrown down a staircase while evicted from the hall. In front of the Cultural Center, the SNS
activists continued to follow the Initiative activists. Five of them managed to escape and get away
with the first car. Two activists got to another car, which was immediately surrounded by abusers,
who smashed both mirrors, ripped windscreen wipers, and damaged the rest of the car and tried
to forcefully pull out one activist from a locked car.

5. Police officers arrived at the scene of the incident very quickly. All activists gathered in the police
station, which is located right across the street from the Cultural Center, and remained there for
another three hours. Police collected information from activists, including their personal
information, but official statements have not been taken.

6. Two activists were transferred to the local Health Center to be provided with medical care.

7. Police officers were at first kind to activists, even police escort to Belgrade was offered, given the
security situation, as well as the damage done to one of the cars. After the SNS issued a
statement at around 9pm, calling on the competent authorities to bring activists of the Initiative to
justice, calling them fascists and hooligans because they interrupted the event of the Serbian
Progressive Party, and several phone calls received by the local police chief, the police attitude
drastically changed towards the activists of the Initiative, who were then thrown out of the police

Belgrade office | Džordža Vašingtona 26/16 | 11000 Belgrade, Serbia | Tel/Fax: +381 11 3035145| office@yihr.org www.yihr.org
 station, the escort initially promised was canceled, and it was announced that they would receive
invitations to officially give statements on the case.

8. Next morning, on January 18, Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic stated that twenty people
reported to the police that they were hurt by the activists of the Initiative, and represented a
completely fake version of the event, according to a SNS statement from the previous evening.
He also revealed personal information provided by the Initiative's activists to the police (eg places
of birth and residence).

9. The Mayor of Indjija and the SNS official Vladimir Gak, who was present at the event, told the
media on Wednesday, January 18, that no one attacked the activists of the Initiative, and that
"they might have hit the door while exiting the Cultural Center" and in his got hurt.

10. Member of Parliament Marijan Risticevic published personal information of Initiative’s activists on
Twitter, and published their photos with offensive comments.

11. On Wednesday evening, January 18, between 20:00 and 21:00, police officers delivered
notifications to the activists of the Initiative for the police hearings scheduled for Friday, January
20th, in Indjija.

12. On Friday morning, at the police station in Indjija, 9 activists of the Initiative were questioned in
connection with the incident in Beška. The questions equally related to the structure and funding
of the Initiative, as well as the incident in Beška itself.

13. On Friday evening, in a special television address from Davos, Prime Minister Vucic points out
that the Initiative is financed from abroad and by the Western embassies in Belgrade, and claims
that the Initiative's activists violated the Law on Public Order and Peace, and that the protests
were endangering freedom of expression of Veselin Sljivancanin. Vucic compared the Initiative
with the neo-Nazi organization "Nacionalni Stroj", which was banned by the Constitutional Court
of Serbia.

14. Numerous public figures and human rights organizations expressed support for the Initiative after
the attack, and offered assistance.

15. The Ombudsman condemned the "brutal physical attack" on activists of the Initiative. The
Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection warned that the
sharing of personal data by the police to third parties constitutes a criminal offense.

16. Campaign against the Initiative continues, primarily on the cover pages of the tabloid "Informer"
and social media

17. On January 27 2017, at 6:00 pm, several young men, members of the newly-formed right-wing
group "Alternativa", put on insulting posters and stickers on the door of the YIHR office, with an
intentional intent to scare the activists of the Initiative. The police conducted a thorough

Belgrade office | Džordža Vašingtona 26/16 | 11000 Belgrade, Serbia | Tel/Fax: +381 11 3035145| office@yihr.org www.yihr.org
 investigation, took statements from all those present in the Initiative's offices, but 18 months later,
the Initiative was not informed of the progress of the investigation. After inspecting the recordings
from security cameras, journalists of Insajder, found that persons responsible are former
members of the extreme right organizations of the National Serbian Front and Serbian Action,
who later confirmed their participation in the show "Insider Without Limit: A Conflict about the
Value System". At least one of them was a volunteer fighter at the Ukrainian battlefield with pro-
Russian paramilitary forces.

18. At the beginning of February, three injured activists filed a criminal charges against unknown
persons for crimes committed by violent behavior, violation of equality and coercion at a
gathering of SNS in Beška. In the middle of July, the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Stara
Pazova dismissed the charges, stating that "the injuries of ST and MM were not caused by an
asset capable of seriously injuring the body and severely damaging the health, but apparently the
same was done by hand, and the ST medical report itself says that she was hit by fists in the
head and in the back and pushed down the stairs and hit her head against the wall." The
explanation also states that "until the moment of the development of the slogan everything went
smoothly and in the best order, that only after taking out the transparent and blowing whistles of
the applicants and other persons who had come with them with the mentioned event there was a
threat to the peacefulness of the citizens and the disturbance of the public order and peace ". The
three injured parties filed an objection to this decision to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in
Sremska Mitrovica.

19. Inđija Police Station submitted a Report to the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office - criminal charges
against 9 activists of the Initiative, according to which Veselin Šljivančanin is among the damaged
parties. OJT Stara Pazova decides that the actions of the Initiative activists do not constitute the
criminal offense, but violation of the Law on Public Order and Peace, by violating public order and
peace or endangering property or offending the morale of citizens by a rude, brutal or ruthless
behavior, for which a prison sentence of 30 to 60 days is stipulated, and filed a misdemeanor
charge against nine activists.

20. On April 4 2017, three of the injured activists of the Initiative filed a complaint with the Third Basic
Court in Belgrade for the compensation of material and non-material damage against the Serbian
Progressive Party, as the organizer of the event in Beška. In response to the lawsuit, SNS legal
representatives claimed that the SNS was not the organizer of the event, although this was clearly
said in their statements, statements by Nebojsa Stefanovic and posts on social networks. The first
hearing in this case is scheduled for January 24, 2018, but continuously postponed by
defendants’ legal representatives.

21. The Higher Court in Belgrade announced on July 26th 2018 the first instance verdict which
sentences Dragan Vucicevic, the editor of “Informer” daily, for violating the prohibition of hate
speech after a lawsuit brought by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR). On February 1,
2017, Informer published the text with the headline "War with foreign mercenaries" and the
subheading "The authority in Serbia must apply the laws in force in the United States and prohibit
the work of NGOs that receive millions of euros from the West to provoke conflicts, divisions and

Belgrade office | Džordža Vašingtona 26/16 | 11000 Belgrade, Serbia | Tel/Fax: +381 11 3035145| office@yihr.org www.yihr.org
 chaos in the country" and that "in this way, once and for all, get in the way of organizations such
as the Soros-Siptar-Fascist Youth Initiative for Human Rights." The text further states that
"Western NGOs in Serbia are foreign mercenaries and they work in the interests of their donors,
and often this is contrary to the interests of Serbia. They are therefore domestic traitors ..." The
Court correctly identified these allegations as hate speech, rejecting the shameful argument of the
defense attorney that qualifying someone as a "traitor" or "fascist organization" are stylistic
figures. This article was part of a smearing campaign against YIHR after the protest in Beska.

22. On August 1st 2018 the Misdemeanor Court in Ruma, department in Indjija, convicted 8 activists
of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights for violating the Law on Public Order and Peace to fines
of 50,000 dinars. Judgement states that the banner stating “War criminals to remain silent, in
order for victims to speak out” and blowing whistles represents violation of public order and
peace or endangers property or offends the morale of citizens by a rude, brutal or ruthless
behavior. YIHR activists announced that they will appeal against this judgement.

23. The Misdemeanour Appellate Court, Novi Sad district, confirmed the verdict of the court in Ruma
which convicted the activists for disturbing the peace and fined them 50 000 Serbian dinars each.
The verdict states that “such actions are deemed by the Misdemeanour Appellate Court as
insolent and disorderly behavior, as blowing into whistles and holding up banners during any
book promotion is not only unusual but also widely considered socially unacceptable, with an
intensity that disturbed the citizens present at the book promotion and caused commotion, which
is clearly visible from the enclosed video files.” The video files referred to clearly show the
activists being physically assaulted, which later escalated in front of the auditorium where the
book promotion took place.

Belgrade office | Džordža Vašingtona 26/16 | 11000 Belgrade, Serbia | Tel/Fax: +381 11 3035145| office@yihr.org www.yihr.org