ZAGREB, October 4, 2018 – Zagreb Police have completed an investigation against a 36-year-old man and brought him to court on suspicion that on September 28 he committed a misdemeanour offence by throwing food remains at an MP for the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, at Zagreb’s Dolac farmers’ market.
The Serb National Council (SNV) said in a press release last week that Members of Parliament for the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) Milorad Pupovac and Boris Milošević were attacked last Friday afternoon at the Zagreb Dolac farmers’ market when food remains were thrown at them, which they consider was hate-incited.
SNV notes that the two MPs were passing through the Dolac market when Pupovac felt something hit him and when he turned around he noticed he had been hit with food remains. Pupovac suspected that the food was thrown at him from a table at a nearby restaurant, the press release notes.
“This isn’t the first verbal or physical attack on SDSS president and SNV president, Milorad Pupovac, but it is the first one that included one of his closest party associates, Boris Milošević. Considering that the attack occurred in the presence of a lot of people and in a place that Pupovac and Milošević frequent almost daily, it was not only reckless but also a potentially dangerous physical attack on them,” SNV underscored.
SNV believes that the goal of the attack was to openly show hate, publicly humiliate and physically endanger Pupovac and Milošević.
Considering the political and media campaign against Pupovac and SDSS that has been going on for some time now, and in particular over the past few weeks, SNV concludes that the attack doesn’t come as any surprise because campaigns like that incite people not only to hate, but to violence against him and the institutions he heads, and in turn against the people he represents.
The state leadership, political parties and associations have condemned the incident in the strongest terms.
