02 May Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: April 19 – May 2, 2024

Posted at 14:52h in News, Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass by

Belgrade, May 2, 2024

Violations of basic freedoms in Serbia

April 19 – May 2, 2024

 

Workers in Serbia welcome the first of May in the face of numerous problems and challenges. The black chronicle has been flooded with news about dead workers for days, and no one takes responsibility for such cases. The investigation of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Niš and the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Aleksinac found that no one was guilty of the death of eight miners of the “Soko” mine in 2022. In conditions where the worker’s life is in question, it is not surprising that basic labor rights are violated, such as the right to unionize.

The branch union of metal workers “Nezavisnost” announced that the workers in “Krušik” from Valjevo are being pressured to join the union. In addition to the increased administrative control of the union itself, the employer also formed a commission that began examining the workers who joined the union. “Krušik” came to the attention of the public in 2019 after the arrest of whistleblower Aleksandar Obradović, who pointed to corruption in this company and the involvement of people close to the top of the state.

In the previous two weeks, in the atmosphere of tensions related to the issue of Kosovo’s membership in international organizations and in connection with the proposal of the Resolution on Srebrenica in the UN, there was also news of misdemeanor charges against activists who removed war-mongering graffiti in Belgrade. As many as 20 activists who removed war-mongering graffiti in Mitićeva rupa received misdemeanor charges for the action they carried out last year in February. The activist’s lawyer stated that “the authorities obviously did not mind the hate message, but rather its deletion.” The Youth Initiative for Human Rights recorded the existence of more than 300 graffiti and murals throughout Serbia dedicated to the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić, and those who depict them have never been punished for it, unlike those who resist the practice of glorifying war crimes and spreading hatred and national and religious intolerance.

You can find more details about these cases in the full report below.