Recently, masked hooligans, under the cover of night, smashed the window of the cafe "Korner", which is in the very center Valjeva. On Wednesday evening, an incident happened "in broad daylight", so to speak, when they masked thugs destroyed the window of the cafe "Romana" and injured several people.
The Valjevo choir, on Wednesday, invited citizens to gather as a sign of solidarity with the events in Vrbas. The column of citizens headed towards the premises of the Serbian Progressive Party, in Hajduk Veljkova street, where a month ago, after citizens were pelted with eggs, water bottles and other objects, the shop windows were destroyed.
When the protestors reached the SNS premises, they could not go any further, a cordon of police in equipment to break up demonstrations was waiting for them, which was standing at the pedestrian crossing, near the "Romana" cafe, opposite the side "Ćika Ljubina" street, where a few tens of meters away stood people in black with phantoms on their heads.
Photo: Vreme / Dragan TodorovićPolice in Valjevo / Photo: DT
Everything went peacefully, with occasional chants from the citizens, and when they retreated towards the city center, the police headed towards the bus station, which is to the left of the place where they were stationed, and from the side "Chika Ljubina" street, masked thugs arrived in front of the cafe.
Attack of the thugs on the cafe "Romana"
According to him, the owner of the building, Vladimir Mihailović, took the guests from the garden, among whom there were women and children, inside the bar, and the thugs started destroying the inventory that was outside with metal rods and baseball bats. They failed to break the window with clubs, so they used an axe. He says, showing his twisted hands, they hit him on the back of his left hand with a metal bar, and on his right forearm with a baseball bat. When they "finished their work" they hurried away, towards the bus station, passing the police.
Photo: Vreme / Dragan TodorovićVladimir Mihailović / Photo: DT
During the attack, his thirteen-year-old son was also injured, who also ended up in the Emergency Center, where a plaster collar was placed around his neck. Vladimir says that he approached the police cordon several times to ask them what the masked people were doing in the side street, but he was always told to get out of the way, or he would be arrested. He says that he does not know why they attacked the building, it is known that he supports the Student's demands, but he did not publicly advertise, except that he attended all the protests, and will continue to attend.
During the attack, Marko Nedeljković was also injured, who remained in front of the cafe with the owner of the establishment to protect the guests during the attack. His right forearm, which is in a cast, was broken by a baseball bat blow. A neighbor from the side street joins the conversation, who says that he saw several dozen people in black, whose eyes were visible, they had metal bars and baseball bats, and one of them had an ax on his belt. While they were in the side street, they shot a gun in the air, and they were commanded by a man with a motorola in his hand.
Photo: Vreme / Dragan TodorovićMarko Nedeljković / Photo: DT
Unprecedented violence
On Thursday, the Valjevo Choir invited fellow citizens to a solidarity walk to the "Romana" cafe. A triple police cordon with shields and white helmets awaited them, while behind the cordon there was a reserve police platoon, which did not allow access to the SNS premises, which were in the same street, Hajduk Veljkova Street, in front of which, in front of the new glass window, stood only two uniformed security guards.
The citizens who arrived and the police were facing each other, the citizens whistled, shouted "Arrest Vučić", asked the police where they were last night, when the hooligans broke up the cafe and beat the owner and his minor son, a man in a red beret was worshiping in front of the cordon. They "looked at each other" like that for over an hour, and then several eggs were thrown towards the police.
Photo: Djordje DjokovicPolice violence in Valjevo / Photo: Đorđe Đoković
The police, who, they say, had reinforcements from Užice, Priboj and Prijepolje, used a "cannon attack", several rounds of tear gas were fired, and the cordon moved towards the citizens, the younger participants of the protest responded with stones. The protestors started retreating and running along "Hajduk Veljkova" street, whoever tripped and fell, whom they reached, they brutally beat with sticks and kicks.
Lawyer Jana Aćimović Planojević, who was present, announced that such violence had not been seen in Valjevo, the police beat everyone in turn, they pulled people out of the taxi and beat them, they brutally beat a 15-year-old minor, during the arrest no one resisted, the boy who was thrown on the asphalt was brutally trampled by several policemen.
Lawyer Branko Ivković adds that he has spent 35 years on the street at various demonstrations, but that he has never seen such brutality of the police anywhere.
The emergency center of the Valjevo hospital provided assistance to the injured throughout the night. According to unofficial information, 67 demonstrators were arrested.
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