Serbian opposition leader Marinika Tepić has released an audio recording that she claims shows Damir Zobenica, the Vice President of the Vojvodina Assembly, giving instructions to activists from the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) on how to provoke incidents during last week’s “Zastani Srbijo” protest.
In the recording, Zobenica is heard saying:
“These locations will be blocked tomorrow. You should follow and, in other cities, if any other locations are blocked, we have the task to ensure that in these locations, except for the train station, at the intersection near the train station in Novi Sad, we have people who are not known and not officials, who will come and insult these people and get upset about the blockade.”
He further emphasizes the need to insult the opposition and its leaders:
“Let them be creative. This needs to be recorded and sent to me so I can send it to the media… I don’t need to explain how important this task is. We don’t have much time. Tomorrow, by 11 AM, it needs to be organized so that when the blockades happen, we do the job properly.”
Zobenica continues, emphasizing the need for insults aimed at the opposition, saying:
“So, insulting the opposition, the reason for the blockade, insulting the opposition, and all of this, from Bjelogrlić to whoever knows who. Recording all of this, someone needs to insult, someone needs to record, or the person insulting can record and send it to me.”
Tepić claims that the release of this audio recording exposes Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his SNS party.
“So what now, Vučić? You’ve been exposed! Here’s the recording! Your man and Andrej’s (Vučić’s brother) man for Vojvodina, and the Vice President of the Vojvodina Assembly, Damir Zobenica, is giving instructions for SNS activists to provoke incidents at the Friday memorial blockades at 11:52. To insult the opposition, record everything, send it to him, and he will send it to the media,” Tepić wrote.
The recording highlights the ongoing tensions and manipulations in Serbian political protests, with the opposition accusing Vučić’s government of orchestrating provocations to undermine dissent.
