Serbia: Why won't the authorities stop religious violence?

Despite continuing attacks on religious communities, Forum 18 News Service has found that Serbian authorities appear to be taking few steps to protect their citizens, reports Drasko Djenovic, Forum 18 News Service. An extreme illustration of the unwillingness of the authorities to provide justice to religious minority victims is the case of Zivota Milanovic, the only Hare Krishna devotee in Jagodina. He has repeatedly been the victim of knife attacks between 2001 and 2007, yet Jagodina police and the District Prosecutor's Office have taken no effective steps in any of the cases. Because of the official inaction, he told Forum 18 that "I believe that I will be attacked again." A lawyer familiar with the case commented to Forum 18 that "any other attack with more than three stabbings is treated as 'attempted murder'." Faced with the authorities' lack of interest in investigating and stopping these violent crimes, Milanovic has filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The ECHR has not yet decided whether the case is admissible.

Despite continuing attacks on religious communities over a number of years, Forum 18 News Service has found that Serbian authorities appear to be taking few steps to protect their citizens. An extreme illustration of the unwillingness of the authorities to provide justice to religious minority victims is the case of Zivota Milanovic, the only Hare Krishna devotee in Jagodina, a city with about 35,500 inhabitants south of the capital Belgrade. He has repeatedly been the victim of knife attacks between 2001 and 2007, yet Jagodina police and the District Prosecutor's Office have taken no effective steps to investigate or stop the attacks.

"The police have done nothing to protect me or to find the attackers," Milanovic told Forum 18 from Jagodina on 1 February. Because of this official inaction, he stated that "I believe that I will be attacked again." He added that as all the attacks have taken place during the summer, he is "seriously thinking" that this summer he will move away from the town.

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[02/08/2008]

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