Human rights organizations condemn the attack on journalist Teofil Pančić and demand that the police and prosecution promptly discover the attackers and bring them to justice. Teofila Pančić, a columnist for the weekly Time magazine, was brutally attacked on the 24th of July at around 11 pm on a bus in Zemun. Two young men with hoods over their heads came on the bus after Pančić then, in full sight of the other passengers, attacked him with metal bars causing him head contusions and injuries to his right arm. After unsuccessfully attempting to overcome him, the attackers fled towards the centre of Zemun. It is of particular concern that none of the passengers present during the attack did anything to stop the violence and the injured Pančić himself had to call the police, who transported him to hospital.
The brutal attack on Teofil Pančić is just another in a series of violent remonstrations targeting people whose public involvement is characterized by a critical stance towards the socio-political situation in the country. By not discovering and not punishing the perpetrators of such attacks state institutions create an atmosphere in which violence is condoned.
Human rights organizations call on the police to respond in a timely manner and identify and arrest the perpetrators as well as on the prosecution to send a clear message to society, by adequately processing this attack, that violence will no longer be tolerated.
This press release is signed by:
- Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM)
- Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
- Women in Black
- Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia
- Centre for Cultural Decontamination
- Humanitarian Law Centre
- Youth Initiative for Human Rights
