Professor Vladan Kuzmanović from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade, as an eyewitness, recounted what happened on Bulevar kralja Aleksandra in front of the Faculty of Law on TV Nova’s “Dnevnik” (Daily News).
The police claimed they didn’t enter, while professors stated the faculty’s autonomy was violated. Kuzmanović testifies to what he saw on the spot.
“A little after half past twelve, from the direction of the Serbian Parliament, about ten Gendarmerie vehicles, at full speed, appeared in a second at the intersection of Beogradska and Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, and dozens of Gendarmerie members leaped out with batons in hand, wearing balaclavas that obscured their eyes, with visors down, in full riot gear, and charged at the students. Previously, the students were at that intersection, sitting on benches, playing volleyball, talking peacefully and dignifiedly; they were academically expressing their protest against this denationalized government. This was not enough for the Gendarmerie; they had obviously been given the task to de-block that intersection at all costs and by all means. At that intersection, I should mention, there were no nervous drivers, no traffic jams, not even those going to visit a pregnant grandmother with children in the car at half past twelve at night; it was deep night, so this police action was completely unreasonable, completely insane. They chased both students and citizens at the intersection of those two streets. As soon as the students saw the vehicles coming at full speed, they started to retreat towards the faculty building. Some managed to get in; those who didn’t were brutally beaten and pulled from the crowd and literally thrown down the staircase where other gendarmes took them over. They had no insignia, no official identification, and they tied their hands like the biggest criminals with plastic straps behind their backs and lined them up, about 25 of them, among whom, believe it or not, the majority were even girls. None of them offered any resistance,” says Kuzmanović.
He adds that several members of the Inquiry Commission were on the scene and asked the police why they were doing this and what offenses or criminal acts warranted such treatment.
“Plainclothes inspectors assured us that it would all be over quickly, that they would be released soon; it was all clear to them too. They simply apologized in a way and insisted that they would be released quickly. I now wonder how the inspectors knew they would be released quickly, because, of course, the police do not decide that. I think it was known in advance that the sole purpose of that action was intimidation,” Kuzmanović believes.
Source: Nova, Photo: Printscreen TV Nova
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