Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

    Odraz B92 vesti (by 12 noon), February 3, 1997

    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 12 NOON
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    BELGRADE'S BLACK SUNDAY

    After firing on Belgrade citizens with water cannons in sub-zero
    temperatures, assaulting and injuring hundreds of demonstrators,
    and beating Civic Alliance leader Vesna Pesic with batons, riot
    squad police went on a spree through the central city early on
    Monday morning. They attacked small groups of protesters who were
    wandering through the central area, appearing to single out those
    wearing protest badges, carrying whistles or wearing sneakers.

    Students and Belgrade University teachers have expressed outrage
    at one incident in which police entered the Faculty of Philosophy,
    beating security staff and student medical officers Several
    students were also dragged on to the terrace in front of the
    faculty building and beaten.

    Eye witnesses told Radio B92 that roaming bands of police smashed
    windscreens on cars and trams parked in Terazije Square.

    Zajedno leader Vuk Draskovic claimed on Monday that fresh squads
    of riot police and tactical response groups had been shipped in
    from Kosovo specifically for last night's campaign of terror,
    which he claims was masterminded by JUL leader Mira Markovic, wife
    of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

    Mr Draskovic was forced to take refuge in a private building
    during the campaign, as was Mrs Pesic, following her beating at
    the hands of riot squad members.

    The Zajedno leaders spoke to B92 by telephone throughout the night
    from the buildings in which they were sheltering.

    Zoran Djindjic, one of the leaders of Zajedno said that the
    opposition was not discouraged by police violence and that the
    protests would continue.

    The police blockade of a broad central area of Belgrade finished
    at about 2.00 am after water cannons had been used to clear
    demonstrators from bridge approaches.


    DRASKOVIC ACCUSES MIRJANA MARKOVIC

    ``Civilians in leather jackets and black caps'' shot at Zajedno
    leader Vuk Draskovic in what he described as ``a scenario for my
    assassination'' after police had dispersed demonstrators on Sunday
    night. Mr Draskovic also told Radio B92 that he knew Mirjana
    Markovic, leader of the hard line Yugoslav United Left party and
    wife of the Serbian President, had ordered his arrest and murder.


    VASILIC: 29 BROUGHT TO TRAUMA CENTRE. IVANOVIC: WOUNDED AFRAID TO
    SEEK HELP

    Belgrade Trauma Centre treated 29 wounded brought in during the
    night after clashes with police, said the deputy manager, Rade
    Vasilic, on Monday. A woman was hospitalized with a broken forearm
    and a man with a broken nose and fist. Many injured were afraid to
    go to the Trauma centre for fear of reprisals and were treated at
    the Anlav clinic instead, mainly for injuries to their heads and
    limbs, according to Slobodan Ivanovic the clinic's manager.

    Ambulances from the clinic brought in a number of people with
    serious injuries, including a student who had been dragged from
    the Philosophy Department building and severely beaten. The clinic
    also treated a cameraman who was covered in boot marks. There are
    rumours that some of the wounded were taken away in police
    vehicles.


    DEMOCRATIC PARTY: SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE ARRESTED OR BEATEN

    Several hundred people, including several university lecturers and
    a Montenegrin MP, were beaten or arrested by police with ``extreme
    brutality'' after a peaceful civil protest had been crushed on
    Brankov bridge, according to opposition coalition Zajedno. The
    Democratic party, a coalition member, intercepted radio
    instructions to the police at 1am on Monday, ordering them to
    arrest any young people with protest badges or whistles. The
    coalition also claims that doctors were already on standby on
    Sunday evening, so the violence was planned.


    GOVERNMENT WANTS MARTIAL LAW IN BELGRADE

    The police had attacked peaceful demonstrators to give the
    government an excuse for declaring a state of emergency when
    Belgrade Council finishes its current term of office on February
    4th, said Zajedno leader Vesna Pesic in an interview with Radio
    B92.


    ZAJEDNO PROTEST MEETING ON MONDAY AT 15:00

    The opposition coalition Zajedno called a protest meeting for
    Monday at 15:00 hours. Zoran Djindjic, one of the Zajedno leaders,
    has cancelled the visit of a Zajedno delegation to the World
    Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as a mark of protest at the
    beating of peaceful demonstrators in Belgrade.


    SUSEVIC: JUL IMPOSES INFORMATION BLACKOUT IN SANDZAKA

    Izudin Susevic, leader of the Reform-Democratic Party of Sandzak,
    told the newsagency Beta on Monday that the Yugoslav United Left
    (JUL) had imposed a complete information blackout in Sandzak. A
    local JUL official has taken control of the Information Centre in
    Novi Pazar, and Novi Pazar television is run by Radio Television
    Serbia, although the local council is contesting its control
    legally.


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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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