Three activists under house arrest, three remain in Klisa

On Tuesday afternoon, the Appellate Court in Novi Sad partially accepted the appeals of the detained activists' lawyers against the previous decision of the High Court to extend their detention in Klisa for another 30 days. Marija Vasić, Lado Jovović and Lazar Dinić are going home, but with nanolegs. They will not be allowed to leave the apartment, they are prohibited from using the telephone and the Internet, and no one will even be allowed to visit them.

Mladen Cvijetić, Srđan Đurić and Davor Stefanović remain in detention at Klisa, although in their case the decision on the extension of detention was revoked and sent back to the High Court for a new decision. The High Court must issue a new decision within seven days, and the lawyers, if it is unfavorable to the defendants, have the right to appeal again to the Court of Appeal. Otherwise, the Appellate Court annulled the decision because "sufficiently clear, concrete and complete reasons were not given regarding the existence of conditions for the eventual application of a milder measure".

What to say to this? It is difficult to escape the impression that the decision was some kind of compromise, that the regime wanted to be satisfied, but also the rebellious students and citizens who blocked the judicial building in Novi Sad for days and temporarily "let it work" so that the Appeal could sit. Students and other citizens demanded that the illegal detention of the activists be lifted immediately, and their passions were particularly expressed due to the bad news about the health condition of Marija Vasić, who decided to go on a hunger and thirst strike and was transferred from the detention unit to the hospital of the Belgrade Central Prison.

photo: marija janković

On Tuesday, we learned from her lawyer, Aleksandar Petrović, that Marija was placed in the neuropsychiatric department of the Belgrade CZ hospital, that she was weak, moves around in a wheelchair, and that she had inflammation of the veins due to thrombosis. It is not clear why she was put in this ward, but the lawyer says he got the impression that the hospital staff was professional and very caring towards Maria.

"On the other hand, what is not commendable is the treatment she received on the way from the District Prison in Novi Sad to the Special Prison Hospital, when they were driving in the gurney. She was completely incapacitated and they actually just lowered her onto the gurney and then put her on a chair. She could neither stand up nor move, because she had completely collapsed," said lawyer Petrović.

Maria, thank God, will end the strike after the decision of the Appeal. This will save life, which was seriously endangered, primarily due to not taking in fluids. It remains to be seen whether this persecution-epic will have lasting effects on her health.

photo: marija janković

Our interlocutor, lawyer Vladimir Horovic, also believes that the decision of the Court of Appeal is a compromise, half-hearted, but still unfair. He believes that the court had to cancel the detention of all activists and release them.

"The decision is unfair, regardless of the fact that in the case of three activists, the decision on the extension of detention was changed, and for the others it was sent back for a new decision. The unfairness consists in the fact that the Court of Appeal had to cancel the detention without banning all detainees from leaving the apartment. In addition, it did not properly determine the existence of grounds for the measure of banning movement and communication," says Horovic.

Horovic believes that the compromise solution was brought under pressure, that is, with the cooperation of civil and student protests, lawyers and European institutions, which in recent days have publicly condemned the violation of human rights in this process.

"For now, the most important thing is that the three of them return home, and that the High Court will soon decide on the status of Cvijetić, Đurić and Stefanović," he says.