ASI speech during protest in Belgrade

On September, 4th 2009 District Court judge in Belgrade ordered a measure of thirty days of detention to a group of six young people who were arrested on September, 3rd. They are accused of writing a graffiti on a wall and then throwing two Molotov cocktails on the Greek Embassy in Belgrade on August, 25th around 3 a.m.

Unusual circumstance concerning the acts of police and prosecution in this case is that the arrested are charged with a criminal offence of international terrorism. In criminal law of Republic of Serbia this offence is treated within the same group as, for example, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes against civilian populace, organising and encouraging to commit genocide and war crimes, conducting an aggressive war, and similar.

Let us remind that the only person convicted for participation in last year’s burning of the American Embassy in Belgrade on February, 21st was charged only with a serious act against public safety, despite the fact that the embassy was heavily damaged and one of the persons who was in the convicted’s group died in the fire.

In a moment when rights and liberties in Serbia are being seriously narrowed by changes in criminal law and law on public informing a decision to charge the six arrested with international terrorism shows the intent of some state structures to discourage any political critique against its actions by stepping up the repression and misusing and misinterpreting its own laws. Because of this we express our solidarity with the arrested, demand that ridiculous charge be revoked and that they be immediately released.

http://asi.zsp.net.pl/asi-speech-during-protest-in-belgrade/