Physical attack on a journalist, Andrija Vukelic, Sabac, November 29, 2021.

IJAS •︎ 29/11/2021

Physical attack on a journalist, Andrija Vukelic, Sabac, November 29, 2021.

Translations: Beograd 

  • Case info

  • Personal info

  • Regional center
    RS
  • Gender
    Male
  • Victim(s) name
    Andrija Vukelic

  • Media outlet

  • Incident Data

  • Date of incident
    29.11.2021
  • City
    Sabac
  • Perpetrator(s)
    Not known
  • Attacked by
    (ordinary) citizens
  • Type of incident
    Actual attacks on journalists

  • Action by the authorities

  • Action taken by the journalists' association

  • Was journalist's association informed by the journalists directly?
    Yes

Independent photographer Andrija Vukelic was beaten on November 29, at a gathering of the Serbian Progressive Party in Sabac, where his camera was stolen. The Serbian Progressive Party held a counter-protest in front of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Sabac, demanding “justice” for its member Dusan Prokic, who was on an excavator on Saturday and clashed with one of the participants in the blockade, Dragan Milovanovic Crni.

Andrija Vukelic said that at one point he saw a crowd of big people with black masks, dressed in black, rushing towards someone. He stated: “I went to see what was happening and I saw them beating two people to the right of the stage and that they were being carried.” I saw them being kicked and when I wanted to take a photo, I put the camera down and saw that I was surrounded by people in black. One started yelling at me ‘give me the camera’ and starts insulting me. Since I did not allow him to take my camera, they started punching me in the head and ribs and trying to knock me to the floor. At one point they hit me in the eye, I heard another man say ‘don’t, don’t, we’ll ruin the rally’ and then they managed to take the camera off my neck because my belt broke. Then a crowd of them ran into the crowd towards the stage, and one guy kicked me in the ass and started pushing me across the street. He told me, “Don’t go back to this side.”

He immediately reported the case to the police station in Sabac, which initiated the case as a matter of urgency.