Šešelj does not give up on the gathering in Hrtkovci, increased police forces

The leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) Vojislav Šešelj reiterated on Saturday that, despite the ban from Serbian authorities, the radicals do not give up on the gathering in the Srem village of Hrtkovci where in 1992 he delivered an inciting speech for which he was also convicted by the Hague Tribunal.

Ahead of the announced gathering, there is a noticeable increase in police presence in Hrtkovci, a village that has become synonymous with the expulsion of Vojvodina Croats after the radicals’ rally on May 6, 1992, during which Šešelj read a list of undesirable residents of Croatian nationality, and in the following months, around 700 residents were forced to leave under pressure and threats.

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The radicals will head to Hrtkovci “wherever the police stop them,” Šešelj said, announcing, “Tomorrow none of us will carry weapons. We go in good faith to do a good political deed,” he said for TV Pink.

The successor of the Hague Tribunal, the Appeals Chamber of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, in April definitively sentenced Šešelj to 10 years in prison for crimes against humanity due to his inciting speech in Hrtkovci in 1992, ‘which resulted in deportation, persecution, forced displacement, and other inhumane acts against Vojvodina Croats,’ but Šešelj did not have to return to prison as his years in detention were credited towards his sentence.

Commenting on announcements that the police would use force, Šešelj said he does not dispute the state’s right and announced that the radicals would “sit on the ground if the police start beating them.”

“Let them beat the people’s representatives, party officials to their heart’s content. It won’t be the first time that the police beat us,” Šešelj stated.

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Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on Friday that there would be “no gatherings” in Hrtkovci on Sunday, May 6, emphasizing that “the state has banned all gatherings that day” because “Serbia will not go into the past, but into the future.”

Counter-gatherings have been announced by opposition parties, the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina led by Nenad Čanak and the Democratic Party.

LSV President Nenad Čanak has meanwhile stated that it would be “a shame” if Šešelj appeared in Hrtkovci.

“Hrtkovci are a symbol and synonym for ethnic cleansing,” Čanak said, reiterating that LSV members will also be there on May 6 if Šešelj is in Hrtkovci because they will not agree to allow “a convicted war criminal to return to the scene of the crime.”

“We do not intend to disturb the people, but we will go to Hrtkovci and wait. If Šešelj enters, we will enter too,” Čanak stated, emphasizing that “if the Ministry of Interior’s ban on gathering in Hrtkovci applies to LSV, it should also apply to Šešelj.”

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In the parish office of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Clement, it was said to Hina that there is a “sense of unease” among the residents, but despite this, everyone is carrying out their regular and usual tasks.

“The police are taking good care of us, and this soap opera will certainly pass,” said parish priest Ivica Živković, alluding to the days-long rise in tensions with Šešelj’s announcements of the rally and gathering in Hrtkovci.

In the Orthodox Church of St. George the Great Martyr, Sunday is the feast day – Đurđevdan, and preparations are underway in the parish house for the reception of guests and invitees, including parish priest Ivica Živković. About fifty Serbs from Hrtkovci also celebrate the feast of Đurđevdan.

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Conversations with residents reveal that most Hrtkovci residents are fed up with the announcements of gatherings and journalists who have been besieging them for days because of this.

They are almost unanimous in their message that “it would be best if no one comes to them” and that “everyone should leave them alone” as politics has not brought them anything good over the years.