Racist Violence against Roma in Serbia and Montenegro

28 May 2004

On December 20, 2003, Mr Alberto Bojić, a 24-year-old Romani man, was attacked by a group of non-Roma in an arcade in the northern Serbian village of Srpski Miletić, according to his testimony, provided to the ERRC by Mr Djordje Jovanović, a Romani activist from Serbia and Montenegro, on January 11, 2004. After having resided in Italy for twenty-one years, Mr Bojić and his family were deported to Serbia and Montenegro in the summer of 2003. Mr Bojić stated that he spoke only Italian and Romani and had had a very difficult time establishing a life with dignity in Serbia since his family's deportation. On the day of the attack, Mr Bojić testified that the non-Romani youths forced him to sing, then beat him all over his body when he was unable to understand their further orders. One of the youths hit Mr Bojić hard on the head causing him to fall onto a table, which tipped over and some glasses that were on it broke. Mr Bojić sustained numerous cuts from the broken glass. At this point, he ran out of the arcade where he met two young Roma. The three reportedly tried to call the police at a local payphone, but as the payphone was broken, Mr Bojić went home. Mr Bojić testified that he had not left his home since the incident out of fear. Mr Bojić did not further pursue the incident with the police. (ERRC)