Tar and feathers without condemnation

Leader of the Radical Party, Vojislav Seselj, threatened a member of Democrat Party, Aleksandra Jerkov, with tarring and head-shaving, while all Serbian institutions, except for the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Brankica Jankovic and a number of opposition MPs ignored these threats, the same as last year when the leader of Serbian Radical Party called his colleague "Ustasha whore". 

I guarantee to Aleksandra Jerkov that she will lose all the hair from her head which will be tarred and feathered. I want everyone to see what the main goose of Serbian politics looks like – wrote Seselj on Twitter, and then turned his rage toward the Commissioner Jankovic.

The condemnation from Serbian officials never came, but DS reported that the region has, including the members of European parliament, German parliament and officials of women's organizations.

- It is devastating to learn that the prosecutor’s office and police do their job by the regimen's order, instead by the law; I myself will take the steps that will ensure those who threaten publicly are held accountable for their actions - said Jerkov.

Attorney Borivoje Borovic is preparing a criminal complaint against Seselj and explains for the "Vesti" that SRS leader publicly stated untruths about Marija Lukic, former secretary of the Brus Municipality president.

Borovic is representing Marija in her case against the former Brus Municipality president Milutin Jelicic Jutka who is charged with sexual harassment.

- Seselj lied about Marija on TV Happy - said Borovic, stressing the primitive level of communication in the proceedings against Jelicic.

That communication in front of the court in Brus has escalated into a huge scandal, as Jelicic’s supporters were handing out photographs of a woman's body in underwear claiming it was Marija Lukic, just before the proceedings started. She has explained that those were the photographs taken from her social media profiles, and noted that they were distributed by the same man who had, on March 8 this year, handed out flowers to women for the Women’s Day "on behalf of the party".

- I was warned that certain people were asked to photoshop my photographs to degrade me in public, as they do not have any evidence in the court proceedings - noted Marija Lukic, who has been receiving threats for months for speaking up about sexual harassment.

It is impermissible and dangerous not to condemn and react to insults, humiliation, and any form of verbal violence against women, said Jelena Hrnjak from NGO Atina. Particularly, as she pointed out for "Vesti", when it is done by public figures whose statements have significant media outreach, which further creates a pattern and model of behavior directed toward women who are then discredited both in private and public sphere.

- In the lack of arguments, they resort to such words which leads directly to labeling and discrimination, and potentially increases risks of physical violence against women– said Hrnjak for "Vesti".

Threatened witnesses

On the continuance of the court date, due to Milutin Jelicic attorney's failure to appear, attorney Borivoje Borovic noted that witnesses came to confirm they have experienced the same things Marija had gone through.

- Those women are highly endangered and they are threatened in Brus. A solution must be found to make this proceeding quick and efficient – noted Borovic.

Gluteus or a disk?

At the end of last year, State Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Darko Stanic, insulted women stating they are poor drivers, and then hit a colleague Ana Kapetanovic's gluteus with papers during the presentation of analysis on gender-based violence, as stated by NGO Atina.

Stanic claimed that he only "brushed her against the disks", and Kapetanovic even said that there was no contact whatsoever.
 

The original text can be found via the following link: https://vesti-online.com/Vesti/Srbija/733216/Katran-i-perje-bez-osude