Serbia: Three men arrested over attack on German gay rights activist caught on CCTV
Three men have been arrested in Belgrade after an attack on a German man who was attending a gay rights conference.
The 27-year-old, whose name has not been released to the press, was hit over the head with a glass ashtray in the Serbian capital on Saturday after attending a conference hosted by LGBT group Labris.
It is thought that he was set upon by men who screamed about “foreigners” in Belgrade, and suffered “life-threatening” internal bleeding and head injuries from the incident.
A CCTV camera captured the harrowing attack. (WARNING – STRONG VIOLENCE):
Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic had yesterday pledged to find the attackers, saying: “We will not allow this kind of things to remain unpunished, and we will arrest the German citizen’s attackers.”
Today, officials confirmed to Blic that all three perpetrators had been arrested in connection with the attack – but no further details were given.
The man underwent surgery yesterday to relieve the internal bleeding, and according to German ambassador Heinz Georg Wilhelm, he has since woken up.
Mr Wilhelm said: “He is awake, so that is already very good but it is still early to say something.”
“The doctors told us that the first 24 hours you can’t say very much, but he is awake and that is positive.”
“If it’s true that the attacker said that he does not want foreigners in Serbia, that gives a new xenophobic dimension to the whole incident.”
