The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights vehemently condemns yesterday’s decision by the Kikinda Mayor to proclaim Humanitarian Law Centre Director Nataša Kandić, a sincere and longstanding champion of truth and protection of victims of human rights violations, a persona non grata. The fact that Kikinda Mayor Branislav Blažić is a senior official of the Serbian Radical Party testifies of the motives behind such a move, which perfectly fits in that party’s overall campaign against Nataša Kandić, recently revived by SRS threats to lodge a criminal complaint against her.Blažić’s claims that Nataša Kandić is „creating anti-Serbian hysteria and thus rendering difficult the lives of Serbia’s citizens” is a classical case of inversion that we have witnessed for years now. The oft repeated accusations – that normal life in Serbia is threatened not by perpetrators of crimes. but by those who have for years spoken openly about the crimes and advocated that the perpetrators be brought to justice – have for years been hindering the process of confrontation with the past, the chief prerequisite for Serbia’s normal future.
The Belgrade Centre would like to remind the public in Serbia that such discrimination and violation of the freedom of movement is strictly prohibited both by international and national law and that such actions are conducive to and additionally contribute to fomenting and exacerbating the atmosphere of hatred of champions of truth. This poses a great danger to the development of the still young and fragile democracy in Serbia.
