02 Oct Heinrich Böll Foundation in solidarity with “KROKODIL engaging words” after attacks on their office
Interview with Milena Berić, Executive Director KROKODIL.
Can you take us through a brief history of the attacks on KROKODIL? Why is the association’s work a thorn in the side of right-wing groups?
Since it was established in 2009, the KROKODIL association has been engaged in promoting a culture of dialogue and reconciliation, and the reconstruction of broken ties, especially in the Western Balkans/Southeast Europe region, as well as in deepening mutual understanding and acceptance of differences in the wider European context.
KROKODIL, together with all its employees, collaborators, partners, and above all the citizens who support our work in various ways, has never made compromises. Among other things, we are fighting against the misuse of language for the political purpose of developing nationalism, using public spaces for the promotion of hate speech as well as historical revisionism in the official curricula of the educational system. Since 2022, we have been helping Ukrainian citizens in line with our complex commitment to dealing with the Russian aggression as a fundamental issue for Europe, but also for Serbia’s European future.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the offices of the KROKODIL Association have been attacked dozens of times, mostly by extreme right-wing and football hooligan groups. Our space is regularly vandalized, and offensive written messages appear on the walls outside almost every week.
KROKODIL employees and activists have faced over twenty lawsuits filed by the state because they participated in the removal of graffiti with the war- mongering message “When the army returns to Kosovo…”. In retaliation for this action, a series of graffiti appeared on walls throughout Serbia, tacitly supported by the state. Threats of physical violence and death threats are continuously made against us, and threats of sexual violence have also frequently been made against female members of our team.
Although we regularly report all these cases to the police, specifically the Department for Cybercrime, the Department for Public Order, the Stari Grad Police Department, where the KROKODIL Center is located, there has been no concrete reaction from the police, nor from the Prosecutor’s Office.
How does the attack on Friday September 20 differ from the previous ones?
On Friday, September 20, around 4 p.m., a group of Russian-speaking people decked in Serbian nationalist gear entered KROKODIL’s offices. While the employees were still at their workplaces, the hooligans secretly entered the premises of KROKODIL and cut the ties on the terrace that held the Ukrainian flag, while one member of the group distracted the employees. The difference compared to the previous attacks is that the attackers this time were Russian citizens and that they physically entered our workspace while the employees were there. The aim of this intrusion was to cause insecurity and fear in the employees while they are at work, where they should feel safe and secure. It is clear that in this case, this was a planned and organized action. This intrusion sends a clear and unequivocal message that violent groups feel safe and free to threaten the work of an association that has been registered in Serbia for sixteen years and, together with its members and citizens who support it, works in the public interest of the citizens of Serbia. The question arises as to who provides protection to these violent groups of foreign citizens who threaten the safety of Serbian citizens.
As attacks have already become our daily routine and we clearly know who the opponents of our work are, we also know the tools they use for attacks, just as we know how to defend ourselves. We dance to our internal local “folklore” well, both with the state and with right-wing groups. Friday’s incident is a serious precedent that seems to go beyond the scope of the choreography we know. It seems to represent merely the starting point for something much bigger, amid the apparently complete loss of control of state authorities over Russian influence, interference and potential takeover of the levers of power. Taking down the Ukrainian flag is an ideologically motivated political act that clearly sends a message to the International Community that the balance of power in Serbia has tipped towards the East in the last few months.
Finally, but just as importantly, this intrusion is a direct consequence of the failure to process the increasingly frequent attacks on civil society organizations and activists in Serbia, but also a consequence of an organized hate campaign. I believe that the situation is alarming and that this incident must not be considered an isolated case that represents only the reaction of a few disgruntled passers-by.
How did the authorities in charge react, primarily the police and the prosecutor’s office?
The police showed up pretty quickly after they received our call. After a short conversation, they decided not to make an official report and asked us to deliver the footage from the security cameras to their station. They didn’t seem worried.
We reported every incident to the police station according to procedure, issued statements, called various administrations and government agencies, were interrogated several times in the Cybercrime Department, but unfortunately the prosecution consistently failed to react. Once, sitting in a small and overcrowded room of the Cybercrime Department, while I was giving a statement about a series of online death threats addressed to me personally in February 2023, I looked at the wall where there was a poster of Ratko Mladić, a convicted war criminal, and a poster with a map of the Republic of Serbia and Kosovo with the words “No Surrender”. I felt as though I was giving a statement to the very people who were threatening.
Do you expect further escalation?
KROKODIL regularly suffers violence and systematic vandalism on our premises from different sides of the political spectrum. Given that we are now also under attack by an unknown group of Russian citizens who clearly support the war policy of Vladimir Putin, which does not correspond to the political orientations and general sentiment of the majority of people from the recent Russian diaspora in Serbia, we have many reasons to believe that similar attacks will continue in the future and even escalate. I believe that they will keep developing further also taking into account the narratives put out by the state authorities in recent days, which are very clearly and unequivocally against Serbia in the West, criticizing democratic values and democratic heritage. We do not want to play at predicting the direction in which this escalation could go, but as far as our work is concerned, we intend to continue with our activities as well as to preserve the KROKODIL Center as an open space welcoming everyone who agrees with us on the most fundamental principles and values. We want to believe that we don’t need private security, and that the state is there to protect us. We want to believe that the time has not yet come when we have to consider working and acting from the basement and that Serbia is by no means a country heading towards totalitarianism and dictatorship. Maybe this is just wishful thinking, like a dream from which we draw strength for our actions. If so, so be it. At least for a while longer.
The interview was conducted by Heinrich Böll Foundation Belgrad