Konjarnik flag incident: Zbor vows nightly gatherings
Two groups met at the Ustanicka and Vojislava Ilica intersection last night, a flag was grabbed, and police stood between them. Zbor Konjarnika says it will gather every evening.
Last night, October 6, two groups ended up at the same time at the intersection of Ustanicka and Vojislava Ilica streets in the Konjarnik neighborhood of Belgrade: citizens gathered around the Konjarnik Citizens’ Assembly (Zbor), who back the “Students Win” list, and supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). According to reports from Nova and footage on social media, an incident broke out over a flag, and police stood between the groups. Today Vojislav Ostojic, one of the Assembly’s coordinators, told the Beta agency that SNS supporters should stop provoking.
What happened at the intersection?
Nova.rs reports that two parallel gatherings were held at the intersection of Vojislava Ilica and Ustanicka the previous evening. According to the portal Masina, which cites Nova, SNS supporters reached the intersection before the Assembly’s citizens, whose gathering had been announced for 8 p.m. The Assembly says this was the first time SNS supporters had arrived at the spot ahead of them. Nova adds that police were present throughout the day because of tensions and verbal arguments.
The central moment of the evening, according to Nova, came when a woman who supports the Student List snatched a flag from SNS supporters. Several people then rushed at her. Nova writes that the two groups almost came to blows and that police stood between them. According to social media footage that Nova cites, SNS supporters also pulled out telescopic batons and waved them, even though police officers were on the scene. The videos Nova embedded in its article were posted on the Instagram accounts @lukapesic5 and @zbor_konjarnik.
For now, the account of the flag grab and the waving of batons comes from Nova and the footage it points to. Danas writes that it all began when a supporter of the list grabbed the flag, and Danas and Beta both say police prevented a physical clash. The sources we reviewed contain no information about injuries or detentions.
The gathering ended, according to Masina, when the citizens around the Assembly left the intersection, which they describe as their usual practice every evening. SNS supporters and police forces stayed on the corner.
What does the Konjarnik Citizens’ Assembly say?
Ostojic told Beta that SNS supporters have been trying to provoke incidents for the fourth night in a row, and that citizens have gathered at the intersection every evening since the elections were called. He described how it looked earlier:
For the first 15 days everything went peacefully and without tension, with great support from drivers who honked their horns to show their support.
According to him, SNS supporters from various parts of Belgrade turned up at the intersection last night, and some of them carried telescopic and other batons, which was also visible in footage posted on social media. “Their goal is to provoke a physical clash,” Ostojic said. The Assembly therefore registered its gathering with the police, and Ostojic said of their work: “The police responded and so far have done an excellent job making sure there is no physical clash.”
Ostojic maintains that SNS supporters are not what the Assembly is about, the student list is. “We don’t want to deal with them, but I’m glad they are dealing with us,” he stressed. He added that everyone has the right to promote a political view, but also a moral obligation not to provoke conflict.
The Assembly does not plan to stop gathering. “Every night, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., we will be giving support to the student list,” Ostojic said, adding that the Assembly will not withdraw before election day.
What does the other side claim?
The sources we reviewed contain no statement from SNS or the Interior Ministry (MUP) about last night’s events. No response has been published, so it remains open how SNS supporters and police describe the flag, the batons and the course of the evening.
A different account of events at the same location appeared two days earlier. On October 4 at 10:48 p.m., Alo reported that “blockaders” at Konjarnik had lunged at SNS supporters, showed them the middle finger and insulted them, and named Dijana Hrka as the person who ran toward a man who was filming. That article contains no statement from Dijana Hrka or the Assembly, and no information about injuries or a police presence.
The Assembly has announced that the gatherings at the intersection will continue every evening from 8 to 9 p.m.
