Nis biker attack: students name roles of six arrested
A Students in Blockade statement says the six arrested include a former city councilor, an SNS official, a Radnicki fan and a kickboxer. Police have not confirmed it.
Students in Blockade from Nis said on November 5 what positions the six suspects hold in the attack on bikers from the Student List mobile teams, who were touring polling stations in Nis on October 25, election day. Police and prosecutors have not commented in any of the sources we reviewed, so the positions and names come solely from the students’ statement.
What does the Students in Blockade statement say?
The statement was first published by the portal Nova.rs and then carried by N1. In it, the students welcomed the arrest of six people and said they expect the investigation to be carried through to the end.
According to the statement, those arrested include a former city councilor and adviser to minister Novica Toncev, an official of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), a Radnicki fan and a kickboxer. A father and son are among the six. The statement gives the full names of all six, but we are not publishing them: they come from the statement of one side, not from a police or prosecution source, and no verdict has been handed down. Until now, media have referred to them by the initials A. A., V. P., M. M., P. M., B. M. and B. K.
The students describe the attack as an attempt at physical intimidation of everyone who was out in the field on election day to protect the will of citizens and point out irregularities outside polling stations. They expect police and prosecutors to also identify any people who ordered or organized it, along with anyone else involved in preparing and carrying out this and earlier attacks.
Their message reads:
“Our bikers did not give up and withdraw even when they were exposed to threats and physical violence. We will not give up on the demand that every attack, every threat and every attempt to endanger the electoral process end with a court outcome.”
The students closed the statement with the line: “The time of accountability is coming.”
What did the attack look like?
The bikers were attacked near the Firefighters’ Hall in Nis. According to earlier accounts from people who took part, a group of men blocked their path with cars. The attackers, participants said, carried metal rods, and one biker was physically assaulted. The arrest of six people was announced before the students’ statement, and we covered it earlier in the article “Nis: Six Arrests After Attack on Student List Bikers”.
What has not been confirmed?
The portal Niske vesti, citing Nova.rs, reports that searches are under way and that watches, narcotics and expensive cigarettes were found in B. K.’s apartment. It was not stated whether any of this is connected to the attack on the bikers.
As of publication, we found no official confirmation of the arrests and no statement from police or prosecutors, so it is unknown what crimes the suspects are charged with or whether detention has been ordered. All six are suspects and guilt has not been established. What is known about their positions rests on a claim by the student movement that has not been checked against an independent source.
