Country Croatia
Year 2024
Affected group/minority Serbian minority
Perpetrator Group of football fans
Type of case Hate act
Type of act Violence
Media: Physical act
Reactions: Several perpetrators were detained by the police. Public demonstration – protest against the act
Brief description:
In January 2024, several Serbian minority teenagers became victims of a group of football fans in Vukovar. Some of the teenagers were seriously injured, but all were traumatized.
The victims’ parents claimed that the trigger for this ethnic-hate-based attack was the Serbian dialect used by the boys – “ekavica/ ijekavica”. They commented before the media that the nationalist discourse prevalently used by local politicians is also to be blamed for the attack. "They are constantly trying to poison the society that there are some differences that cannot be bridged. However, we are proof that good people live in this city, that they do not care about the way of expression, nor political commitment, nor religion. Our children have almost died because of the narrative which this city and the entire country supports," the parents stated.
The attack on the boys and the lack of reaction from the city institutions provoked the parents to call the Vukovar citizens to go out and protest against the violence on January 13th.
Eventually, the four attackers and their helper were arrested and remanded in custody. Some defend themselves with silence, and some deny that they participated in the attack and dispute everything they are accused of. The parents, on the other hand, claimed that they knew all the attackers and that the attacked children recognized them.
More information on the case can be obtained from:
Photo: Borna Jaksic/Pixell @ telegram.hr
All rights reserved.
Privacy policy
Impressum
