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28 May, 2000Trade union activists of the AFITU are being treated like common criminals.
SERBIA: Following the government-ordered police raid on the offices of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions on May 19, several trade unionists have now been arrested. Branislav Djuric, vice-president of the AFITU and coordinator of Alliance for Change in Nis, was detained on May 26. Earlier, on May 24, police arrested Djordje Pasagic, who is the regional representative for the union and an Alliance for Change coordinator in Kraljevo, and on May 25, Dragan Veselinovic, a leading AFITU activist at Electronic Industry Nis, was taken into custody.
The AFITU, objecting strongly to the intimidation and harassment of the union and its activists, has pressed for their release and called on the workers and public to help them resist such persecution. The union demands the right for all those living in Serbia today "to live as the rest of the civilised world, in a free, democratic country with a developed economy," and rejects the regime's treatment of its activists as criminals.
The president of the AFITU, Dragan Milovanovic, has tried to recover the union's archives and equipment from the police after the break-in of May 19, but to no avail. He is also a leader of the Alliance for Change and has faced charges by the Serbian government. "We are determined to continue our work, even in these very difficult conditions," said Milovanovic.
The AFITU, objecting strongly to the intimidation and harassment of the union and its activists, has pressed for their release and called on the workers and public to help them resist such persecution. The union demands the right for all those living in Serbia today "to live as the rest of the civilised world, in a free, democratic country with a developed economy," and rejects the regime's treatment of its activists as criminals.
The president of the AFITU, Dragan Milovanovic, has tried to recover the union's archives and equipment from the police after the break-in of May 19, but to no avail. He is also a leader of the Alliance for Change and has faced charges by the Serbian government. "We are determined to continue our work, even in these very difficult conditions," said Milovanovic.