Guardian: The family claims that Sandulović was partially paralyzed due to the attack

The family of Serbian opposition leader Nikola Sandulović, who was allegedly beaten by the secret police of Serbia while he was in custody, announced that he was partially paralyzed as a result of that attack, writes the British newspaper The Guardian.

The Guardian reports yesterday's statement by Sandulović's daughter Klara that her father is "communicative, but completely paralyzed on the right side, in a wheelchair and in a very, very bad state of health", and adds that the attack has fueled fears for the future of democracy in Serbia.

In a statement published by British lawyer Michael Polak, Sandulović's representative, she appealed that her father "be transferred to a civilian hospital from the military facility in Belgrade where he is being held," according to the Guardian.

According to the Guardian, Sandulović's daughter stated that family members were allowed to visit him only yesterday, after five days, and led them to believe that he was also poisoned.

She also stated that her father was taken from his own home on January 3 after he apologized for the crimes committed by the Serbs against the ethnic Albanians during the war for the independence of Kosovo in 1998 and 1999, writes the London newspaper.

The lawyers said they could not verify the information about the attack or about the health of Sandulović, a Republican Party leader who regularly criticizes the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), until he is transferred to a civilian facility, where he will have full access to doctors and lawyers. Guardian.

According to the text, Polak filed a complaint with the UN Committee against Torture, officially requesting that his client be transferred to a civilian health facility.

He said that Sandulović was "captured by the Serbian intelligence service and then arbitrarily detained and tortured."

"He was severely beaten. He has a broken rib. When he was returned home, he lost consciousness at times and complained that he could not move the right side of his body," Polak said.

The Guardian points out that Sandulović was heavily criticized in the Serbian media after last Sunday he republished a video from February 2023, in which he is next to the grave of the founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Adem Jašari, who was killed by the Serbian police in 1998, along with 57 members of his family. during the war in Kosovo.

"I am the only politician from Serbia who came to pay homage to the innocent Albanian victims, the Jašari family, in Prekaz. I apologized and asked for forgiveness on behalf of the Serbs who did not commit this," Sandulović wrote on X on January 2.

Sandulović was arrested the day after the Serbian secret police returned him home, and the family saw him only yesterday morning, according to the Guardian, adding that the judge ordered him to be detained for 30 days after he was accused in absentia of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance, for which a prison sentence of six months to five years is threatened.

Polak says the indictment is a "clear violation" of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects political speech.

The Guardian estimates that the attack on Sandulović will open up new questions about Serbia's proclaimed intention to join the European Union and fuel fears "about its relations with neighboring countries, including Kosovo."

The newspaper adds that this is happening at the time of claims that the recent elections in Serbia were stolen in favor of the SNS and the country's president, Aleksandar Vučić, and that he denies this.

The European Commission announced yesterday that "it is in contact with the authorities (Serbia) and interested parties", that "any detention must be legally justified" and that "relevant competent authorities should investigate all credible allegations of violence", adds the Guardian.

The Serbian secret police Security and Information Agency (BIA) announced last night that "there was no violation of freedom and rights, nor was there any illegal use of physical force" according to Sandulović, but that "it undertook activities from the agency's statutory scope of work in order to clarify the background of his illegal activity which the competent prosecutor qualified as a criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance".