Looking down past masked and armed guys in Chacilenda, but that's why the beating of citizens at roadblocks. Why do the police act like that?
In short, because there are such orders, writes Jelena Zorić in the title topic new issue of "Vreme" (on newsstands from this Thursday, July 10).
"It is already an open secret that in some leadership positions there are people whose files were deleted by the secret services before joining the police, many managers have purchased diplomas, and some were directly appointed to the most important positions by the most dangerous criminals, and they lead squads for the persecution of both students and citizens, the opposition, as well as for "purging" the MUP of honest members of the police," writes Zorić.
"Almost everything in the Serbian police that worked 'in the name of the people' and not 'in the name of the party' has meanwhile been arrested, satanized, prematurely or regularly retired or assigned to some positions of coordinators, where they do not know the exact responsibilities - they were pushed into cramped offices, often without computers or even chairs."
"The party controls the police force"
How it looks in practice, one of the inspectors of the Department of Internal Control of the MUP reveals to "Vreme". He has been with his colleagues for months on the street, in civilian clothes, and observes what his colleagues in uniform are doing.
"But not to monitor their professionalism, but to record how loyal they are to the ruling party, since the party controls the police force," said the inspector, who asked not to be named.
"When they receive the order to disperse the crowd, then, also due to political pressure, no matter how brutal they are, they are not responsible for the excessive use of force. Everything is covered up," he says.
It reminds of the case of a colleague in civilian clothes, Lazar Bačić, whose eye was injured by gendarmes during a protest in front of RTS. "When the public did not get the spin that he was injured by students, the case was put in a drawer," claims our interlocutor.
Between the hammer and the anvil
In Ozren Tošić's article, we look at everything through the lens of police officers in uniform - in full gear, exposed for hours to tropical heat, physical exertion, psychological stress and social isolation.
Because, like it or not, they are between the hammer and the anvil, the regime and the citizens. For now, they only choose to listen to the regime.
Dossier "Everything you need to know about police at protests" read in in the new issue of "Vreme" which is on newsstands. Or subscribe to the print or digital edition
