It is obvious that things were boiling in Kula just a few days before the local elections.
Threats, intimidation and shooting – on a day that was supposed to mark the end of the campaign. This happened in Kula, where three Novi Sad students claim they were the target of organized surveillance.
They say they were followed by masked men, chased in a car and eventually chased off the road. When the attackers got out of the vehicle with balaclavas and clubs, the students tried to escape.
"I heard a shot right at that moment when I started to go through the hole in the fence. Someone started to shoot and there was also shouting 'stop, stop', after the shooting and as we went through the hole we heard more shots," said the student. Faith Naumovic.
The people from Kul who came to their aid are activists from “Mladi Kula”, whose members are candidates on the student-supported list. They say that on their way there they called the police and encountered men with clubs, who introduced themselves as police officers.
"If it's the police, it's a very strange group that came with masks. A police patrol also came to the light we retreated to and there was an argument. We saw that these were the guys guarding the banners," he said. Dimitrije Simic from the “Young Tower” movement, which came to the rescue.
Different stories
SNS activists present a completely different version of the events – they speak of the incident as an attack on themselves.
This narrative was first reported by the tabloids, citing a police report. Then came a statement from the Ministry of the Interior, claiming that SNS activists had been attacked.
“Simic Peter, Simic Aleksandar, Simic Dimitrije, Spasic Dejan, Traveler Marinko i Veselinovic Dusan – everyone from Kula and actually attacked SNS activists. Name Veselinovic Dusan "You may already be familiar with it. This is the same guy who drove minors around Kula to destroy other people's property," he said. Damjan Miljanic, president of the municipality of Kula.
"These are shameful statements. President Damjan Miljanić has once again sided with Kuljan and it is clear that he is a party soldier," Simić said.
"I see it as their complete defeat"
Although the stories are completely different, one thing is certain - tensions ahead of the local elections are at their peak.
"I see it as their complete defeat and that we are their biggest fear because they wouldn't focus and deal with the Tower this much if they weren't afraid. What they are trying to do to us is to set us up like they did to the students in Novi Pazar," she said. Lily Knezevic from the "Young Tower" movement.
And so Kula enters a pre-election silence, which, the question is, will it be "quiet".
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