One of the most serious cases happened in Šarbanovac, near Bor, where a group of masked attackers severely beat two Revolt portal journalists Lazar Dinić and Ivan Bjelić, photographer Zorica Popović and activist Aleksandar Kulić. The attackers sent death threats to Bjelić and Popović, calling Bjelić insultingly “Ustaša” and “Piculić” while their mobile phones and camera were stolen and destroyed.
The violent group carried axes, and they knocked the journalists to the ground and kicked them, causing Dinić, Bjelic and Kulić to suffer severe head and face injuries, while Popović was hit several times in the stomach. Dinić was further abused by a group of attackers, forcing him to say “Aca is the president” while some of the attackers were filming him. Although the thugs moved around the area of the attack while the police were taking statements from the victims, the police officers did not arrest the attackers despite the appeal of the injured journalists.
In most municipalities where local elections were held, especially in Bor, Kula, Bajna Bašta and Arandjelovac, the police put themselves at the service of street gangs by not acting, which deeply damaged the electoral process, bearing in mind that the violence happened in parallel and/or most often due to the discovery of a large number of electoral irregularities by independent observers and the media. This information would not be known to the public without the reporting of a small number of independent media and impartial observers.
Yesterday seemed like a clash with citizens and young people who think differently and use their basic rights. Elections that take place in an atmosphere of fear and are accompanied by organized violence are not and cannot be free and especially not democratic.
