On Wednesday, November 20, protests in Serbia took place on three different fronts: one was in front of the Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, the second on the Brankov and Stari Sava bridges, and the third in the Rectorate building. The students gathered there and wanted to attend the ceremony on the occasion of the International Students' Day, at which the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, was supposed to appear. The president, however, canceled his visit at the last moment, but the students and youth of the opposition parties stayed. On the one hand, the celebration, the circle and students in formal suits, greeted with a smile at the Rectorate. And there were those who were not welcome.
Pavle Cicvarić, a student of the Faculty of Political Sciences and an activist of the informal group Borba, was detained when he tried to enter the Rectorate. Soon after that, he was released, and he did not give up his intention to participate in civil disobedience. That same day he returned to the Rectorate.
Pavle Cicvarić speaks for "Vreme" about the arrest of students and activists, the excessive use of force by the police and repression, but also about the political crisis that has been shaking Serbia for some time.
"WEATHER" Why were you detained when you tried to enter the Rectorate?
PAVLE CICVARIC: We, students and members of the informal group Borba, organized an action in the Rectorate because we heard that the president should come to the ceremony and address the students. We did not want any violent action, but only to enter the Rectorate. We wanted to ask the president why there are double standards in the treatment of young people and students. We went to see what the situation was because we heard that the president canceled his visit anyway, which we interpreted as if he was afraid, as if he wanted to avoid a situation where someone would appear in inappropriate circumstances, to ask him a certain question that would not suit him .
When we got there, two policemen approached us and asked us for ID; I asked them why they are asking me that since I have a right to know; one said because of some violent behavior, the other said because of vandalism. I took out my ID card and went to hand it to the policeman who asked for it, and at that moment a third policeman came up and twisted my arm, pinned me against the wall and started swearing at me. Then they put me in the car. The reason they detained me was supposedly because I didn't want to give my ID, and that's simply not true.
They are in the Rectorate building, during that time, some students entered without problems.
When we entered the Rectorate, the first scene we saw was a couple of guys who were trying to prevent us from entering the hall, a round was being played on the podium as if nothing had happened. And we could recognize a lot of people from the Faculty of Political Sciences, from the student organization European Student Forum, who allegedly had the honor of listening to the president. Even so, there was a lot of pushing. A guy tried to rip off a girl's T-shirt that said "Your hands are bloody". Later, information appeared that the boy was a member of SNS, but also one of the student representatives.
In your opinion, what message does the government want to send with the wave of arrests of activists?
The main message I would send to the authorities regarding the arrest of activists and youth is that despite all this, we have a large number of people who are still on the streets. Activist Ivan Bjelic is still in custody. I think that Ivan is a thorn in their side because he previously led certain actions that blocked the city. I think they are trying to conduct a test exercise through Ivan and thereby show what will happen in the most extreme case with people if they continue to organize or go to protests.
Action in the Rectorate, despite distractions and pressures, held. Is it somehow a victory of student will??
Now that it's all over, I think this was an important symbolic as well as practical victory. Not only students participated in this action, but also young activists and youth of the Movement of Free Citizens and the National Movement of Serbia. The action was also useful because we see that a certain gap is being created between activists and politicians. One of the ideas was to ease that distance through cooperation in this field, because after all, the youth of the party are our colleagues whom we see every day at the faculties. In addition, it is important to note that three actions were organized that day in Serbia - the blockade of the Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, our action in front of the Rectorate and the blockade of the Branko bridge.
This is why there is such a gap between activists and politicians?
Politics is a term that has a bad reputation and all people, even critics of this government try to save themselves from some epithets that they could get by being associated with parties. People often think that activism is uncorrupted, and that engaging in politics is corrupt, whether you engage in it as a member of parliament or as a youth. I think that in moments like this we need the unity of the entire civil opposition. This requires different groups to come together and fight together for overall changes in society instead of fighting several scattered battles for isolated problems. We must stop looking for solutions to specific problems and start looking for specific causes.
In front of the Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, the members of the opposition showed their readiness for a more radical approach to the protests. What is your opinion about it?
I absolutely welcome such action by the deputies. It is clear that the MPs stepped out of their comfort zone and were the first to stand on the shield and the first to get hit by the police. I think that's how you gain trust in politicians. We have a situation in which a negative campaign is being conducted against opposition politicians. At the same time, we also see divisions within the opposition itself, which further discourages people from trusting them. The opposition has now shown that it is ready for something a little more radical, which of course will not go beyond the level of calling for violence. An example of this can be the incident a few days ago when a policeman's gun fell out, which could have ended very tragically. And then we saw that the MPs kept their composure and told the people to stand back. Another image that I perceive as a revolutionary moment is the image of Dragana Rakić and Danijela Nestorović ripping the shield from the policeman's hand.
Do you think that citizens are more motivated to go out to protests than before??
First of all, we have to take into account that police brutality has reached a whole new level. A sentence often repeated in the media is that the closer the end of the regime is, the more aggressive the regime will become. Nervousness can definitely be seen in the government's actions. What I also noticed is that all the protests that are being organized now have a different form from other protests, primarily from Serbia against violence. These protests, although they were all over the cities, were somewhat centralized. The epicenter was still Belgrade, and the others provided support. Now we see that many groups of citizens, local associations, informal groups are calling people and making their own actions that serve to call the authorities to take responsibility.
Resignations and arrests of responsible persons, including Goran Vesić, they followed public pressure. Do you think that is taking responsibility?
I think it is definitely necessary to continue this pressure. A lot of topics are present here in addition to Novi Sad, since we have a situation where people who came out to express their dissatisfaction have been arrested, and those who are guilty are free. Some of them, like Goran Vesuć, were arrested, but I see it as make-up and crisis management by the authorities in order to calm the situation. However, I think that we don't necessarily have to look at the arrests of certain government officials in this way, but it can give people the motivation to continue to take to the streets and expect more. In addition, we will now focus on certain actions that require the immediate release of activists, among whom is Ivan Bjelic.
Protest, as you say, now they are leading on multiple fronts. What does that tell us about the political crisis Serbia is in??
I cannot judge whether the end of this government is near, somewhere I have a feeling that it is moving in that direction due to the increased aggression of the police towards activists and citizens, but I would not rush to make that assumption. It can be seen that citizens are dissatisfied, that Serbia has been in crisis for years. When the crisis is long, it becomes normalized and people learn to live like that, it becomes a kind of normality for them. It is important to emphasize this fact: that the crisis is ongoing and that it is not caused by the citizens but by the government, and that the citizens are only reacting.
The key thing is that there are political actors and citizens who will communicate with those who may not have the opportunity to hear them in the media, who may not be aware that this crisis is above us non-stop, and that they do not live in the utopia that is presented to them on Pink or Happy.
What do you think?, What are the consequences of covering up this crisis for our citizens??
That important role is played by the media, like Pink and Happy, who are constantly engaged in spin, which can be very dangerous. For example, I saw several headlines about the case of Vesić, such as "The Yellow Prosecutor's Office arrested Goran Vesić". That card is played again - the fact that those who have absolute power must also have absolute responsibility is avoided.
What is the framework plan for the further work of the Borba group?
We are planning various actions that will continue in cooperation with other activist groups, such as SviĆa and Stava. I think the key thing is to continue to call for responsibility and to show solidarity with the victims from Novi Sad. It seems to me that the government is trying to sweep this under the carpet, and it is our duty to insist that the topic remains current so that it does not end up like "Ribnikar" and Dubona and Malo Orasje, and many other tragedies. In case we fail to find responsibility in this struggle, I dread to think what the next tragedy could be... It seems to me that the more time passes, the tragedies become bigger and bigger, and if it becomes everyday, we we will not react... And then where will that red line be? Therefore, we should not cross this line.
