In the last few days, the campaign for the Belgrade elections was marked by the fact that the candidate for the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, insulted Dušan Čavić, one of the authors of the show "Marko Žvak" and the activist of the initiator "Za naš kej".
Čavić asked Šapić during a tour of the Sava quay "where are you in front of Ribnikar to bow to the shadows of dead children", after which the recent mayor called him a "donkey" and a "slut".
As he said in an interview with the "Vremena" portal, at the time he asked that question, he did not know that ten days ago a photo of Šapić appeared in a tabloid in front of the "Vladislav Ribnikar" Elementary School. However, that photo was taken under cover of night when no one was there, and Čavić adds that due to a material omission, the public deserves his apology, not the person who called him derogatory terms.
Why did he insult him?
Čavić says that there are two possible reasons for the recent mayor, and now the SNS candidate for mayor of Belgrade, to address him with such vocabulary.
"The first concerns his attitude as a public office holder to the fact that such a tragedy took place in the city he was in charge of. On the other hand, I think it concerns something that we filmed, the story of his first neighbor about how Šapić illegally legalized his illegally built building."
At the moment when all that was happening and when Šapić directed those expressions at him and when he asked him that question, he did not know that he was still in front of the "Ribnikar".
"He was in front of 'Ribnikar'." Ten days ago, a photo was published in a tabloid showing Aleksandar Šapić standing by the fence of the Sprot field of that school, but the photo was taken under cover of night. And what is symptomatic, he made a big event in front of the Old Palace, where his office is, with all the wreaths, with candle stands. He calculated his political points. He did not appear in front of the school, he came, left flowers, bowed and left. He didn't tighten the loop and did it. Whoever was in the position of mayor of Belgrade at that time would have experienced the displeasure of the citizens who would have been there, by the nature of things. But that's something you have to do when you're the first man of the town. He didn't do something that had to be done."
Čavić also points out that he came in front of the school when there was no one on the street.
"It was not communicated at the time of the tragedy." The performance in front of the Old Palace was publicized at that time. I don't know if he called or visited the families of those killed. That's nice, if so. If he had appeared there in front of the school during the day, I would say he turned out to be a man. That would be something positive, although I do not think well of him as a politician or a person holding any public office. He would turn out to be a man because at that moment everything else was irrelevant."
When asked if he owes an apology to Šapić for that omission, Čavić answers:
"The fact that Aleksandar Šapić was in front of 'Ribnikar' deserves my apology to the public for a material omission, not to the person who called me a donkey and a slob." The fact that he was there alone, under the cover of night, that it was not communicated at the time of the tragedy, probably for the sake of ratings, the performance he made in front of the Old Court deserves only contempt. The personal interest of Aleksandar Šapić cannot come before the interest of the public office, the position of the first man of Belgrade."
When you are Šapić's neighbor
As the second reason why Šapić insulted him, Čavič cites that in the show "Marko Žvak" they dealt with his illegal construction.
"The construction inspector stopped the construction work on the house on Bežanijska kosa in Šapić. He then appealed to the Ministry of Construction, and it rejected the first-instance decision. In the meantime, he became mayor and the Municipality of Novi Belgrade legalized that facility for him even though there was no basis since, to legalize anything illegal, it has to be on a satellite image from 2015, and he started building in 2020 or in 2021. When the building inspector came out again, he concluded that there is no legal basis to do anything, because the building is legal."
Also, says Čavić, Šapić's first neighbor filed a lawsuit against him, and the public prosecutor rejected it because it has no legal basis because it is now a legal facility.
"What happened to that neighbor afterwards is a picture and an opportunity that Aleksandar Šapić is not worthy to be a candidate for mayor or to hold any public office." That man parked his car in a street behind those houses on the sidewalk where all the neighbors have been parking for years and just one day he started receiving retroactive parking fines, two in the same day. He received about thirty fines. Then he started to park a little further on Bežanijska kosa, between buildings, and his tires were punctured twice. You cannot prove who punctured the tires and on whose order only he received fines for illegal parking, why the law was applied selectively, only to him. But it is a picture and an example of Aleksandar Šapić's relationship with his first neighbor. What can we other citizens of Belgrade expect?"
No fear
Regardless of Aleksandar Šapić's insult, and what happened to his first neighbor after the lawsuit, Dušan Čavić says he is not afraid.
"I don't feel fear," he says, "although I have heard before and from many sources that he is a man who is holy and who remembers." I felt comfortable as he told me all that. Regardless of the weight of those expressions, I did not feel threatened. There is no retreating and no hiding from Aleksandar Šapić and others like him".
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