Protests in Serbia Archive
Actor Gojko Baletic arrested in Belgrade

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Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 19:43:23 +0100
From: "Democratic Party, YU" 
Subject: URGENT: Police harrassment in Serbia (2)

URGENT! URGENT!

December 11, 1996

P R E S S R E L E A S E

Belgrade (Serbia), December 11, 1996.

At 15:50 (local time) on Wednesday afternoon Milosevic's police kiddnaped and beat up on the street a famous actor, member of the National theatre in Belgrade, Gojko Baletic. The incident took place on the corner of Kneza Milosa and Nemanjina streets.

According to the eyewitness, Baletic was beaten up by 4 policemen, two of them traffic policemen and the other two dressed in civilian clothes. After he had lost conscience he was cuffed and taken into the unknown direction in a police car.

Lawyers of the coalition "ZAJEDNO" have already gone to the city police headquarters where they are requesting Baletic's immediate release.

Baletic has actively participated in student demonstrations in Belgrade. On the invitation of students of Nis, Baletic was supposed to go to Nis and adress the students there on Thursday.

The opinion of the coalition "ZAJEDNO" is that this incident is an answer and a warning of the regime to the actors in Serbia who, expressing their support to the demonstrators, did not open the theatres on Tuesday.

Gojko Baletic is 40 years old, married and a father of a four years old son.

This incident only confirms that the case of the student Dejan Bulatovic was not an isolated one but that there is an obvious intention of Milosevic's police to scare the citizens by beating up the demonstrators.