Sunday

Chauvinism at the pool

Water polo diving

The Serbian Super League playoff match between Crvena zvezda and Šabac, played at the Belgrade pool "Milan Gale Muškatirović", remained in the deep shadow of chauvinistic outbursts from the stands, and the target was the new coach of the red and white team, a celebrated water polo player and coach from Kotor - Mirko Vičević.

The hooligans, about 200 of them, unfurled the banner "Shiptar, Croat, Balija, are not my brothers" and during the first fifteen minutes of the game chanted: "Delije, dilije, let's all join in, Mirko Vičević is never part of us", "Zvezda, Serbia, never Yugoslavia" and "March from Star", with the already standard glorification of Ratko Mladić, and then left the stands. On their website, the "fans" emphasized that the new coach is "a Croat from Montenegro and a man who hates Serbs".

The delegate did not interrupt the match, nor did he ask to remove the banner, VK Crvena zvezda nor the Sports Association of the same name did not publicly come forward and condemn the chauvinist rampage and insulting of their coach until the conclusion of this issue. In a short statement, the Water Polo Federation of Serbia condemned the events in the Dorćol hall and announced the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the persons responsible, and in its report from the match, the only daily sports newspaper "Sportski Jurnal" did not mention the events in the stands.

And while the authorities are mostly silent, condemnations are coming from all sides: from Montenegro, from the Water Polo Association, the Olympic Committee, clubs, athletes and sports workers... Former water polo representative Danilo Ikodinović called the events "disgusting" and expressed his suspicion that everything was instructed by authorities, and lawyer Sead Spahović believes that the silence of many is not only a consequence of not resenting organized hooligans, but that many in sports, politics, the prosecution, the police and the gendarmerie think the same that "creeping fascism" is at work.

Mirko Vičević won numerous medals with the Yugoslav national team and club trophies, he is a member of the World Water Polo Hall of Fame, and after the collapse of the SFRY he continued to play for the FR Yugoslavia and is remembered as the only Croat in the Yugoslav team at the European Championships in Athens in 1991 after the player's withdrawal from Croatia. After the independence of Montenegro, he was the first captain of its national team, and as a coach with the juniors of Montenegro, he was the first in Europe in 2013.

But, his brilliant career did not spare him from chauvinist insults and threats because, as the "fans" and the nationalist media explain, he is the president of the Croatian Civic Society from Kotor and a member of the Democratic Party of Socialists, and what is "blackest" - he supported the independence of Montenegro.

Revision of history

Rehabilitation of Milan Aćimović before the court

photo: printscreen

This year, the High Court in Belgrade will decide on 93 requests for rehabilitation, among which is the request of the descendants of Milan Aćimović, one of the most famous collaborators in Serbia during the Second World War.

As "Večernje Novosti" reminds, rehabilitation procedures began in 2010, and citizens and associations could submit requests until 2016, and out of 2.753 requests - 1.983 were approved, 190 requests were rejected, and the aforementioned 93 remain to be resolved. . By restoring civil rights to people convicted by the authorities after the war, their heirs gain the right to return nationalized property, which they use.

Among the rehabilitated are many who were convicted for ideological reasons, as political opponents, but also numerous proven criminals and collaborators of the occupiers, such as the Chetnik commander Spasoj Drenjanin Zeka, the organizer of the massacre of 67 residents of the village of Vranić in December 1943. That is why the chances are high that the court will posthumously restore civil rights to Aćimović, regardless of the fact that he was the chairman of the pro-Nazi Council of Commissioners, formed ten days after the occupation, and then the Minister of Internal Affairs in the collaborationist government of Milan Nedić until November 1942, when the crimes were committed. numerous crimes of the Nazis and their domestic collaborators.

The "Jovanjica" case

Coluvia's closest associate was extradited

photo: cry

Of the 18 accused in both cases related to "Jovanjica", only one is still not available to the judicial authorities in Serbia, and it is a member of the Military Intelligence Agency (VOA) Saša Vujisić, since Sergej Mrđa was extradited to Serbia from Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, for who is claimed in the indictment to have been one of the closest associates of the first defendant, Predrag Koluvije, and the manager of the property where marijuana was grown.

BIRN reminds us that the indictment says that Mrđa conveyed Koluvia's orders to the workers, which was confirmed by the head of the company that provided "Jovanjica", and the decrypted messages of two of his closest associates are cited in which they agree on the cultivation, storage and delivery of the drug. Now Mrđa is the only one in prison, while the others, with the exception of fugitive Vujisić, are at liberty or, like Koluvija, under house arrest.

Taxi drivers vs. Cargo

Announcement of blockades and protests

Photo: Tanjug / Tara Radovanović

A new open conflict between the Association of Taxi Carriers and the Association "Kargo" has been announced, and both are announcing protests and traffic blockades in the capital.

The taxi drivers sent a letter to the Government of Serbia and demand, above all, an increase in the prices of services that have not been changed since 2012, but also the removal of the drivers of the "Kargo" platform from the streets, as they had already requested during the last protests in 2019. If the government does not comply with their demands, the taxi drivers announce blockades from February 21 to 25.

And the named party from the Association "Kargo" announces protests because their business rights are threatened, and they fear new physical attacks on their drivers. Their slogan "Stop taxis and the city cartel" added fuel to the fire, so the Association of Taxi Drivers of Serbia says that their harsh response will follow.

Everything suggests that the citizens of Belgrade will once again live in a congested city for days.

Arrest in Kovacica

Fake vaccination certificate at a price of 300 euros

Four employees at the Health Center in Kovačica are the first group in Serbia to be arrested for selling fake vaccination certificates after a volunteer "fell" at the Belgrade Fair last spring, who was working on data entry and falsifying documents.

It is suspected that the director of the institution, with the help of three employees, enabled at least five citizens to receive a certificate without receiving the vaccine. The director is charged with the criminal offense of influence peddling, the administrative worker is charged with abuse of office, and the fire protection officer and another employee are charged with aiding influence peddling, and all are in custody.

And for the five identified buyers, a measure of prohibition of access and communication with witnesses was determined, and they will be charged with falsification of documents, because, as claimed by the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, they bought vaccination certificates for 300 euros.