The Guardian for Sandulovitch: Partly paralyzed, attack raises questions about Serbia's EU membership

Secret Service agents allegedly beat Nikola Sandulovic after he apologised for crimes against ethnic Albanians.

The family of a Serb opposition leader, who was allegedly beaten until he was in custody from the country's secret service, says he has remained partially paralyzed by the attack, has written the British newspaper “The Guardian” today in the case of Sandulovici in Serbia, which tops the media front.

In an attack that has sparked fears for the future of democracy in the country, Nikola Sandulovic's family says he was taken from his home on January 3rd after apologizing for crimes committed by Serbs against ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo war for independence in 1998 and 1999.

On Wednesday, following the first family visit allowed for five days, Sandulovic's daughter, Carla, called for her father to be transferred to a civilian hospital from the military object in Belgrade to which she was being kept.

“He is communicative, but he is completely paralyzed on the right side; in a wheelchair and in a very poor state of health”, she said in a statement issued through Michael Polish, a lawyer in the United Kingdom and director of justice abroad, who is working for the politician.

The family believes Sandulovic, the leader of the Republika Srpska party and a regular critic of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), could be “degenerated”, she added. Lawyers have said they can't verify anything about Sandulovici's health or the attack until they take him to a civilian facility with full access to doctors and lawyers.

Polish has urgently presented the case to the UN Committee Against Torture, formally demanding such a move. He has said Sandulovic was “captured by the Serbian intelligence service and was later arrested and tortured arbitraryly”.

The Guardian has been directed towards commenting on the Serbian government, broadcasting Gazeta Express.

Sandulovic was sharply criticised in state media after reposting a video last year in which he visited the tomb of Adem Jashar, founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who was killed by Serbian police in 1998 along with 57 members of his family during the Kosovo war for independence.

By the time he made his visit in February 2023, Sandulovic apologized for the deaths. He restored the video together with another apology in the past two weeks, prompting criticism from some local media.

I am the only politician from Serbia to come to honour the innocent Albanian victims, the Jashari family in Prekaz. I apologized and apologized on behalf of Serbs who didn't do this”, Sandulovic wrote on X on January 2nd.

He was badly beaten. He has a broken ribs. When he returned home at times, he knew no and complained that he could not move the right side of his body”, Polish said.

Despite that, Sandulovovicu was arrested a day after returning to his home by Serbian police and was not seen by his family until Wednesday morning.

A judge ordered that he be held in custody for 30 days after being charged in absentia for allegedly inciting national, racial and religious hatred, a work according to Article 317 of the penal code of conduct that could be sentenced to prison for between six months and five years.

Polack says the prosecution is a clear violation of the European convention on human rights that defends the political word.

The attack will raise new questions about Serbia's stated goal of joining the EU and boost fears of its relations with neighbouring countries, including Kosovo. This comes amid allegations that the recent elections were manipulated in favour of President Aleksandar Vuciq's SNS, an allegation Vuciq denies.

Acknowledging Serbia's growing political tension, however, Polack urged the international community to condemn the attack on his client.

The political word is highly protected. Without allowing political speech you damage the functioning of democracy. I think it is a very important case for all Serbian people, whether they agree with Sandulovici's gesture or not, he said.

In a statement Wednesday, the European Commission said it was “in contact with relevant authorities and interested parties”. Any ban should be legally justified, and “any reliable claim of violence must be effectively followed by relevant competent authorities”, the EC added.