The anti-fascist rally outside the Philosophy Faculty in Belgrade passed peacefully this afternoon in central Belgrade. Several hundred anti-fascist demonstrators began their protest at around 4pm. Originally, the protest was planned to be a counter-protest to the announced neo-Nazi demonstration scheduled to be held at the same time. However, the neo-Nazi protest was banned by Serbian Police Minister Ivica Dacic on Thursday and the anti-fascists were asked to demonstrate somewhere else – they didn’t.
In response to the announcement that the neo-Nazis would be gathering regardless of the ban and joining the regular pro-Karadzic rally at Republic Square, the wider city centre was packed with police in full riot gear. I saw police on virtually every single street corner along Knez Mihailova, as well as at Student Square, along Terazije and even outside Pizza Hut, which is quite far out from where the protests were taking place. It turns out that there were 2,500 police officers spread out throughout the centre, which surely must have put the neo-Nazis off trying anything against the anti-fascist protesters.
There was a small incident when the anti-fascists began a walk through the centre, with them, Obraz, neo-Nazis, and pro-Karadzic supporters meeting at Republic Square. The police were quick to separate the groups and there was no violence. 34 people were arrested for wearing Nazi symbols, including foreign citizens from Germany, Bosnia and Romania.
Personally, I had thought that something was sure to flare up with the presence of far-left and far-right groups converging in a small area. The police presence was extremely heavy – I must have seen at least 10-15 vans and buses of police in the streets around the anti-fascist protest – and it most certainly allowed the afternoon to pass peacefully, enabling myself and the majority of Belgraders to enjoy the sunny weather with a coffee in the centre without much concern. The lack of violence today is a marked difference from the last number of protests where the police were slow to react, if at all. Ivica Dacic, the police and interior minister, certainly seems to be doing his job.
I am glad that the neo-Nazi rally was banned – I dislike any form of fascism – and I’m sure if it hadn’t been there would have been a whole lot more people and better chances of violence. I don’t, however, agree that the anti-fascist march should have been allowed either in this situation. Both groups have extreme views, whether it’s more to the right or more to the left. I shall play devil’s advocate: if the anti-fascists can have their opinion and demonstrate it publically, who are we to say that the other group can’t – even if we fully disagree with their principles? If the pro-Karadzic supporters can march through the city every single day – essentially supporting the man acussed of the Srebrenica massacre and calling him a hero – why can’t the neo-Nazis organise a demonstration for a few hours?
Do you believe the neo-Nazi rally should have been banned? Aren’t the anti-fascists just as extreme in their beliefs as the neo-Nazis? Is it OK to ban something just because the majority don’t hold the same view?
Enjoyed this post? Subscribe to Balkan File via RSS or e-mail.
on Oct 12th, 2008 at 2:40 am
I wouldn’t say it’s the same, no way. Just because something is extreme doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Neo-Nazis base their whole philosophy on violence – that is something that falls out of the “we agree to disagree” and falls under “punishable by law” category.
on Oct 12th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I don’t agree that anti-fascism is an extreme point of view. I think that all of us who believe that fascism is very wrong naturally fall into the anti-fascism group, which is very heterogeneous and consist of people with many different views about many things.
on Oct 12th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
You are right, Marko, anti-fascism in general is not extreme. Although, perhaps you could say those who were protesting against fascism on the day of the (banned) neo-Nazi march are more extreme in their views than the general population who just went about their daily business. Which is certainly not a bad thing as you said, Viktor.
Also, Viktor, you say that neo-Nazis base their ideas on violence. I do remember seeing many cases of neo-Nazis attacking people, especially the spate of murders/attacks in Russia on non-white citizens. All neo-Nazi violence should certainly be punished by law. To be honest, I didn’t really know a lot about neo-Nazism, and at first I was thinking it’s an idea and an idea should not be banned. After reading some more, I agree with your point about neo-Nazism being legislated against – it’s a vile ideaology.
However, I also feel that by banning something completely only serves to push it underground even more and perhaps further away from the eyes of law enforecement. If it’s in the open and they can express their views, the police can keep tabs on them and react easier if laws governing hate or violence are broken.
As I said, I don’t know a lot about the neo-Nazi and anti-fascist movements, and so I may be wrong in what I say, but I’m just throwing out these ideas and questions to encourage some discussion on the topic.
on Oct 12th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Adam, I don’t really buy that “forbidden fruit” theory. Sure, there will always be fascists and neo-nazis, no matter how hard you fight them, but it is important to try and curb their maneuvering space as hard as we can.
Your question: “Is it OK to ban something just because the majority don’t hold the same view?” is in this case equal to: “Is it OK to ban MURDER/GENOCIDE/TORTURE just because the majority don’t hold the same view?”
The question of Nazis and fascists in Serbia isn’t about hate-speech, it’s about their actions, and actions of Nazis and fascists 60 years ago. Banning those organizations is both paying respect to our grandparents, as well as teaching younger generations to recognize fascism and fascist speech (which can often be heard in the Parliament, on TV, the Internet, etc.). If it’s not banned, it will become mainstream form of expression and as such will be harder to isolate later on…
In Serbia, we have things like beating up of homosexuals, Roma, people of different skin color or belief, etc. as a day-to-day thing. Their actions speak much louder than words…
P.S. Being indifferent to fascism and Nazism is “extreme”, being against it is “normal”.
on Oct 12th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Dejan,
You made a good point there. I think I would actually agree with you in that sense. It is best to keep curbs on such a dangerous and violent idealogy and try to prevent its promotion.
I think people should be free to think and believe whatever they want as long as it does not cause physical or psychological harm to others – which is certainly not the case with neo-Nazism.
on Oct 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Democracy provides a framework for the free expression of opinions. Curtailing freedom of expression for others is a central element of fascist ideology. That’s why there’s a difference.
on Dec 23rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
First of all, those neo-nazis are just a bunch of stupid, young people whose leaders are getting paid to make mess by the ruling political parties.
Serbia is having much more serious problems than some dumb shave-headed fools typing something on their website. The authorities use this to distract people’s attention from real problems such as Kosovo, poverty, unemployment, corruption, etc.
Firstly, the nazi imbecils scheduled the rally on that October day, then the anti-fascists organized the anti-rally on the same day. Then Serbian Police Minister, Da?i?, forbidden both rallies. Then, when that day came, the nazis didn’t appear (pobably due to many police forces in the city center). But the anti-fascists appeared in spite of the ban and held the rally. So when they (the anti-fascists) had nothing better to do, they went to the Trg Republike and, naturally, started fighting with the Radovan Karadži?’s supporters who had been sitting there for last 3 months or so, protesting every day. Then they arrest some people, nobody knows whether they are of the anti-fascists or of the Karadži?’s supporters.
And then, they put it on news, and everybody talks about that, instead of talking about Kosovo problems, the jerks in Serbian Parliament having salaries 5 times bigger than average salary in Serbia, etc.
It’s all a show for the naive Serbian people, while they are getting robbed by the politicians. That’s the sad situation in Serbia, country controlled by the mass media.
Sorry about my Tarzan English, I gave my best.
Great blog, I enjoy reading it, I discovered it few days ago and it has some very good posts. Keep up the good work, hope you’re having nice time in Serbia!
on Nov 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 am
@Nikola
You seem to have skipped a few things. First of all, anti-fascist demo was not banned, Dacic himself explained it one day after he said that both demos are banned.
Secondly, it’s not like we ‘had nothing better to do’, we had a PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED march to the memorial for the hanged anti-fascists during the Nazi occupation of Serbia.
Thirdly, there was no contact between us and Nazis (let alone any fight). They only threw one torch over the police cordon, but it didn’t hit anyone.
And, just for the record, fighting fascism does not distract you from fighting all other kinds of oppression, au contraire.
Next time (9 November 2009), do consider joining anti-fascists instead of just blabbering around.
Leave a Comment