Stepping on it

Two incidents occurred in the early mourning hours of January 27, when Belgrade students who had won a week-long stand off with police cordons went for a protest march in the city centre. A commuter bus ran into a crowd of students near the school of theology, followed by a red Yugo which drove right through a bunch of citizens cheering the students. In both cases, the students' security members only just managed to save the drivers from mob justice.

The aggressive behaviour of irresponsible drivers is apparently harder to explain than the protesters' rage or police indifference. A number of such incidents are probably caused by fear encountered by drivers when they face a huge crowd coming towards them. However, more apparent were the intentions of two drivers who ran into a crowd jeering during the prime time news in one of Belgrade's many gathering places chosen by the protesters for this purpose.

One of the drivers turned his vehicle around and left after running into the crowd, while the other stepped out of his vehicle with a companion and tried to provoke a fight, as they both had guns. They eventually backed off and departed in a hurry as the enraged mob threatened to take them apart. The number of incidents of this kind has risen considerably since the authorities introduced something tantamount to a state of emergency by deploying police cordons throughout Belgrade, with a declarative intention to "normalize traffic". Special police brigades have been turning a blind eye on plainclothes squads armed with baseball bats and rampant drivers terrorizing the marching protesters. Another incident occurred on January 23 when a Fiat Uno with Italian number plates ran into a group of protesters.

The driver was apparently infuriated by the hostile mob and a woman who asked: "Where do you think you are going, you idiot" ? A Vreme Weekly reporter Dragoslav Grujic sustained a serious injury in the resultant scuffle he tried to prevent. He was unaware the driver had turned his vehicle around with the intention to speed away, so he ended up with a broken leg. The driver's companion managed to escape both mob justice and a pursuing police officer, although the latter had drawn his gun and told him to stop.

The students' security members have had good cooperation with traffic police in Belgrade, but only in matters regarding protest marches and activities.

"They have no reason to lie to us. Most cases are genuine accidents with drivers running into the crowd because they are scared and want to get far away from the protesters as quickly as possible. However, some incidents have been provoked deliberately ", says Mirjan Antonic. When asked who could be responsible for such provocations, Antonic pointed at the Yugoslav Left-Wing Alliance (JUL).

The incident when several cars were demolished by a hail of stones hurled by the crowd on January 25 gives reason for suspicion that some incidents have been deliberately provoked and organized. The students' security had previously succeeded in persuading both the majority of hostile demonstrators to join the stand-off with police cordons in Kolarceva and a police brigade commander to withdraw his cordon back to the Borba building. However, a small group did remain at the end of the tunnel, blocked the road with trash containers and threw stones at all vehicles coming from Zeleni Venac. Police vehicles parked at the beginning of the tunnel for over two months had suddenly disappeared, so the unfortunate drivers had no way of knowing what was lying in store for them at the end of the tunnel.

Protest marches have spread throughout Belgrade ever since police were deployed in the city center to prevent student and opposition rallies. Police brutality has stepped up, but so has the determination of the citizens to march. Roughing up small groups and individuals in narrow and dark alleys is easier to conceal, especially with widespread fear among the victims that the ambulance will take them straight to the police. The circumstances are just perfect for volunteers who want to join the "anti-fascist" and "anti-chetnik" struggle with their vehicles.

Identifying the Assailants

The Zajedno coalition issued a December 29 statement to the effect that Belgrade citizens were attacked and beaten two days earlier by members of a special anti-terrorist unit (SAJ), who had been instructed to apply police brutality typical among Latin American regimes by interior minister Zoran Sokolovic, his deputy Radovan Stojicic and general Rodoljub Djordjevic.

The three never denied the allegations, which is quite typical for this regime and its political manners. The coalition was unexpectedly denied by SAJ commander Zoran Simovic, whose statement came as a surprise because of codes common to organizations which work undercover. Simovic said his unit wasn't even in Belgrade that day, so it couldn't have possibly accomplished the demanding task of beating up bare-handed citizens. After all, blaming the SAJ for something like that is a serious blow to the entire security system. It is therefore more than peculiar how a number of the assailants and their commanders were identified with some ease.

One individual called the weekly Vreme's office and said he recognized two SAJ members, whose official signs were Alpha and Cobra, on photographs published by the weekly. The trouble is that one of the photographs included Zoran Simovic, the SAJ commander. His denial started falling apart, although he could still say that the assailants were not members of his unit. The source was positive about his identification because he had served together with Simovic, Alpha and Cobra. The participation of various private security agencies in street skirmishes under the patronage of "anti-fascist" parties has not been confirmed. Vreme's source says that members of a special anti-terrorist army unit have been on the streets since the beginning of the protest. They are wearing police uniforms, and it is still unknown who is authorized to order this kind of cooperation between the army and police.