Nis students demand attackers of a minor be identified

The student list “Students Win” demanded an urgent investigation on October 10 and called for the identification of the attackers of the minor son of Nis actor Aleksandar Marinkovic. The boy was beaten the previous evening, around 8 pm, outside the entrance of the National Theatre in Nis. The students linked the attack to today’s “Crossroads” rally, which starts at 6 pm in King Milan Square.

The Serbian Progressive Party has no response in the sources consulted, and according to Nova, the police had not commented by the time of publication.

What does the injured boy’s father claim?

Everything known so far about the attack comes from the father and from the students’ statement. Marinkovic described the incident on his Facebook profile.

“Last night, at the entrance of the Nis National Theatre, while he was waiting to go in to a performance, my minor son was beaten,” Marinkovic wrote.

According to him, his son was taking a photo with a girl, and the phone happened to be pointed at an SNS stand. Marinkovic says there was no gathering in front of the theatre, only that stand. The threats he describes include a line that they would “kill him, split his head open, stomp on him” if they saw him again.

“Five of them ran up, tried to take the phone, and when he wouldn’t give it, beat him and made him delete the pictures,” the actor wrote, adding that the attackers checked whether he had also deleted the photos from his gallery.

The boy received care at the emergency room and at the Children’s Clinic.

“He ended up in the emergency room and at the Children’s Clinic. Minor bodily injuries. The case has been processed,” Marinkovic said.

The actor points out that there are cameras near the theatre’s entrance doors and says he expects the attackers to be identified. The attack happened during the international festival “Theatre at the Crossroads,” when the theatre was full of guests from Europe.

What are the students asking the authorities to do?

In its statement, the student list says the boy received medical help and that the case was reported to the police. It demands an urgent investigation, the identification of those responsible and the seizure of surveillance camera footage, so that all circumstances can be established and evidence secured.

The students also put a question to city and state officials who in recent days reacted publicly to claims of violence against SNS supporters.

“Will the mayor of Nis speak out about the attack on a minor as well?” the students asked in the statement.

The statement ends with a political message, in which the list rejects labels that, it says, its opponents attach to its members.

“We do not accept that students are labeled as violent, while violence committed by supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party is relativized or passed over in silence,” the student list “Students Win” said. The statement concludes with the line: “We choose a Serbia without fear.”

What is the program of the Crossroads rally?

The rally was announced before the attack as part of the list’s election campaign. It starts at 4:30 pm with the action “Pobedina to Victory,” in which themed stands on health, the economy and education will be set up at three locations on Pobedina Street, today’s Obrenoviceva Street.

The gathering in King Milan Square is scheduled for 6 pm. On the main stage, the Serbian anthem will come first, followed by the address “At the Crossroads” and speeches by candidates. The announced speakers are:

• Zeljko Hubac, playwright and writer, third on the list
• Prof. Dr. Lidija Dimitrijevic, full professor at the Faculty of Medicine, 14th place
• Jovo Bakic, professor, 76th place
• Radomir Saicic, academician and professor at the Faculty of Chemistry, 91st place
• Dr. Marija Dzunic, professor at the Faculty of Economics, 119th place

Dimitrijevic and Dzunic are among the 38 candidates of the Student List from Nis. After the speeches, a victory performance, brass bands and folk dancing are announced.

The available sources do not say whether the camera footage from the theatre entrance has been seized or whether anyone has been identified.