[Breakingthesilence] for the reader xx jet

[miss moon]

hi all ive sent this for the reader....its the press relaese made by the 
local gay paper here
after their editor was badly beaten one week ago here in belgrade

i realise hate crimes happen everywhere
but i want to make clear the situation here
todfay is the 17th...there would have been a pride parade here today
but the threat of violence is seen as too much
and around town there are many anti queer posters.......
they show the gay and lesbian symbols crossed out and read 'prevention is 
better than the cure'



	udruženje new age rainbow
post restant
21000 novi sad
serbia and montenegro
063.588.487
info at gay.org.yu
www.gay.org.yu


New Age Rainbow's and Decko's manager beaten up
July 13th 2004
“New Age Rainbow� Association (NAR) demands from Belgrade police 
immediate identification and arrest of the hooligans who have assaulted and 
beaten up the manager of NAR association and “De�ko� magazine 
Abdel-Latif Hamad.
Abdel-Latif Hamad and three of his friends were attacked on Sunday 11th of 
July 2004. around 3:30AM on the corner of Zmaj Jovina street and Obilićev 
Venac, returning from a gay party which took place in elite Belgrade 
“Lotos bar� club. According to Abdel-Latif, who was the one most 
severely beaten, he and his friends came out of the club and headed down 
Zmaj Jovina Street. They were suddenly attacked from behind by at least four 
hooligans about a hundred meters from the club entrance. The hooligans were 
hitting them with bats or clubs shouting: “You want a party, Fags, well 
here’s a party for you!� They attacked all of them, but Abdel-Latif took 
the hardest beating. Some of the hooligans were kicking him, while at least 
two of them were hitting him with bats. His left forearm was seriously cut 
with an unknown sharp object. Abdel-Latif says the attack lasted about one 
minute, after that the attackers ran away. One of the attackers is assumed 
to have been in the club during the party and before the assault.
During the beating one of the victims made it to the club entrance to ask 
for help, but he was mocked with a remark that there was no security for the 
party. After the attackers ran away, a few people passed by. They called the 
ambulance, which arrived shortly and took him to the ER where his injuries 
were attended. Latif emphasizes that he couldn’t call the ambulance 
himself because with his right hand he tried to slow down the bleeding from 
his other arm. The Police came in the morning. They took Latif’s official 
statement, and started a case against Unknown Attackers for severe body 
injuries. One of the inspectors stated that the “molesting season in 
Belgrade has begun�.
Many guests left the club before Latif and his friends did; yet the assault 
took place only some hundred meters from the bar. There was no security in 
the vicinity, and the party organizers have confirmed that the party 
wasn’t registered with the police as it usually with gay parties. Latif 
claims that club staff was unpleasant and even hostile with guests, 
especially when he started giving away free copies of the “De�ko� gay 
magazine. He also said that he and his friends went out of the club together 
and were on their way to the Belgrade Bus Station. The attackers didn’t go 
after those guests who were returning to their homes alone, but after the 
four of them. Latif says that the hooligans were about the age of twenty and 
that he couldn’t recognize them, except maybe the one he thinks he saw 
inside the club.
The attackers gave Latif the following severe body injuries: broken tooth 
and nose, on his left forearm there is a cut of about 7-8 cm long, his lower 
lip is cut and there are swellings under his eyes. NAR reminds that this is 
a felony for which the act 53, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law punishable by 
prison sentence in duration between six months and five years.
We consider the lack of reaction to the often attacks of minorities and 
those who support the minorities to be silent support to the extremist 
groups. We are outraged because there is no reaction or condemnation from 
the official organs of the physical violence, or any other violence on any 
ground, or condemnation of the groups calling for lynch. It is obvious that 
the attackers chose for their targets those distributing the gay magazine, 
and thus making their attitude clearly known, regardless of their sexual 
orientation. We emphasize that NAR association and “De�ko� magazine 
have professional associates of all sexual orientations. We demand from the 
official organs to clearly condemn the assaults on the minority groups, and 
to prevent all institutions, organizations and other groups that call for 
violence over minorities.
NAR association president,
Atila Kova�
Contact:
www.gay.org.yu
info at gay.org.yu
tel: +381-63-588-487 and +381-64-230-11-27

Note for the media: We have provided low-resolution pictures of the victim 
with this document. For the high-resolution photos please contact NAR 
association and “De�ko� magazine editor’s office.

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