Maksic Plans Criminal Complaint Against Tesic Over T-Shirt

Tamara Maksic, a councilor of the Green-Left Front (ZLF) in the Pancevo City Assembly, said at a press conference on October 10 that she will most likely file a criminal complaint against Ivan Tesic, head of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) caucus and the party’s commissioner for Pancevo. She says the reason is harassment at the local parliament’s session the day before.

According to Maksic, Tesic came to the session wearing a T-shirt with her face and the slogan “The oldest profession is always in fashion,” and the shirt also carried a drawn red lantern, she says. Tesic’s account of the events is not available: N1 reports that he answered neither a call nor a message.

What happened at the City Assembly session?

Maksic said she noticed the shirt only when she stepped up to the rostrum to reply to another speaker.

“I came out to speak in reply and, as I was speaking, I saw the head of the caucus, Ivan Tesic, wearing a T-shirt with my face and the slogan ‘the oldest profession is always in fashion.’ That’s when I reacted and said it was shameful,” Maksic said.

She asked City Assembly Speaker Tigran Kis to respond. She then tried to film Tesic with her phone, she says, but another SNS councilor stopped her, and Tesic hid the slogan at that moment. A scuffle and commotion followed in the chamber, and the Speaker called a break. Maksic and the other opposition councilors then left the session.

Maksic also claims the Speaker played down the incident instead of backing her. She says she was told she would get no floor time for the rest of her term, and that the ruling majority has not accepted a single one of her proposals.

Why is she announcing a criminal complaint?

At the Pancevo press conference, Maksic said this is not an isolated case.

“This is not an isolated case; throughout my term as a councilor I have been suffering violence, harassment and attempts to silence and marginalize my voice in this assembly,” Maksic said.

She added that the incident must not go without consequences: “I believe this cannot pass, and that we must show we are ready to go all the way and fight for justice, and not let bullies get away with things like this forever.”

Right after the session, Maksic also spoke to N1 about earlier clashes. She says Tesic has physically prevented her from speaking on several occasions, and about what happened in the chamber she said: “Clearly everything is allowed to them. Today I got yet another ‘warm rabbit,’ with the SNS commissioner for Pancevo practically calling me a wh*re at a City Assembly session.” City Assembly sessions in Pancevo, she noted, are not broadcast on television.

What do ZLF and the opposition say?

ZLF said in a statement that Tesic sexually harassed the councilor. The statement also says Tesic is “known in that city and in the media as a bully and the leader of several incidents in which our councilor Tamara Maksic was targeted.” The Social Democratic League of Vojvodina also condemned the act, saying:

“Showing a T-shirt with her picture and the message ‘the oldest profession is always in fashion’ does not insult only Tamara Maksic, it is a slap in the face to every woman in Serbia and shows how Vucic’s cadres see their political opponents: exclusively through drawing targets, humiliation and drawing the most primitive sexist insults.”

ZLF co-chair Biljana Djordjevic pointed out at the conference that the public learns about local sessions mostly from footage shot by opposition councilors, because the media cannot follow them.

“The story about standing with Tamara is bigger than support for one local councilor, who is incidentally also a provincial councilor, it is bigger than support and solidarity with ZLF, it is a fight for every woman in Serbia who dared, imagine that, in the 21st century, to be a councilor,” Djordjevic said.

She also stated: “We probably don’t even know how many Tamaras there are who are sexually harassed in municipal and city assemblies,” and then: “Those people are not held accountable for it, and women feel threatened and intimidated.”

ZLF co-chair Radomir Lazovic said the party stands behind its councilor and that she is a target because of what she represents and says.

“On behalf of all of ZLF I want to give Tamara my support and admiration, and to say that if we don’t say today that this is unacceptable, what can we expect tomorrow,” Lazovic said.

Who is Ivan Tesic?

Besides his post in the SNS, Tesic is the director of the “Banat” Forest Estate in Pancevo, part of the public enterprise “Vojvodina Forests.” No complaint has been filed yet: Maksic said only that she will most likely do so over the harassment.