Croatian attackers #racist #wingnut jutarnji.hr

{Translated by Vman, because no English-language reports of this could be found. You can see the original text (in Croatian) at the link provided in the URL below the text.
The incident happened in the Croatian city of Vukovar on the 16th of January, 2019. Vukovar has a population that is roughly 60% Croat and 35% Serb.}

YOUTH ATTENDING SERBIAN-LANGUAGE SCHOOL ATTACKED IN VUKOVAR
Multiple masked minors swooped in on him at the bus station

AUTHOR: Jutarnji.hr
PUBLISHING DATE: 17 Jan 2019, at 18:22

Wednesday evening around 7 PM in Vukovar, a student of the 3rd grade of 'Nikola Tesla' Technical School attending classes in the Serbian language was attacked at the bus station, writes the news portal Novosti.

According to unofficial sources, he was attacked by five or six minors wearing ski masks, including one without a mask. The assaulted youth identified that one; allegedly, the suspect is a student attending the same school, but in the Croatian-language program.

The non-masked minor is allegedly a member of the Bad Blue Boys football fan group. According to Novosti, he is notorious for causing trouble in the school.

"Currently I can only tell you that on Wednesday, at around 7 PM, the police were notified of five or six youths being present at the Vukovar bus station, and that they were involved in a physical altercation. The police went afield and there we came upon some of the participants of the event. However, we are still working on the case, that is, we are trying to ascertain all the circumstances. I believe that will be finished by the end of this day, so the public will be notified about everything in a communication which we should release on Friday," said Domagoj Džigmunovic, spokesman of the Vukovar-Syrmia Police Department.

The assaulted student of the Technical School sustained light injuries, and the attack occurred just two days after Vukovar mayor Ivan Penava called out the students of the Technical School who attend the Serbian language program. The reason was that they did not stand while the national anthem of the Republic of Croatia was being played at the Vukovar Cup football finals match between the NK Vuteks Sloga Vukovar and the HNK Vukovar '91 clubs. Penava further substantiated the allegation by way of a video recording where the faces of these youths are visible. According to Novosti, the video is still available at Vukovar.hr, the city's webpage.


{Vman's notes}: Public education in Vukovar is unique in that it is fully segregated according to ethnicity. Croat and Serb students attend separate classes (often in the same school building), even though the Croatian and the Serbian language are so similar as to be mutually intelligible - indeed, prior to 1991 the children were educated together.
The segregation occurred as a result of the 1990s war and the resulting fallout in inter-ethnic relations. Vukovar was the city most devastated during the war in Croatia. Serb forces besieged and shelled it for three months in 1991, and its capture was accompanied by war crimes against the captured Croatian defenders and civilians.

In the meantime, Vukovar and its wartime destruction has become a major symbol, even a sort of national myth in Croatia. Its wartime history and the interpretations of it are also a source of periodic tensions between Croatia and Serbia.

This symbol is often used and abused in Croatian politics, especially by right-wing Croat figures such as the current mayor of Vukovar, Ivan Penava. {/notes}

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