SPASIĆ: ATTACK ON BELGRADE’S POLICE STATION - TERRORIST ACT

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 6 /SRNA/ – Security expert Božo Spasić told SRNA that the attack by BiH citizen Merima A. on a police station in Belgrade is a terrorist act, similar to those that can often be seen in London, Paris, and Brussels.

"When you come to a police station armed, you are not coming to attack an officer, you are there to attack the state", Spasić said, referring to the incident that occurred early this morning in Belgrade, when a woman from BiH attacked a police officer with a knife at the Savski Venac Police Station. He believes that this case will be treated in prosecutorial and court records as a terrorist attack, in the same way such incidents are characterized in London, Paris, and Brussels. Spasić noted, however, that it is necessary to wait for the investigation results to determine whether she was part of an organised group, whether someone was waiting outside the station, and with whom she had been in contact in the hours or days leading up to "such a senseless terrorist act". He also pointed out that the motives for this BiH citizen’s stay in Serbia since September 29 remain unclear, and that she had not been registered at any address in Belgrade during that time, meaning she had likely been staying with friends or in short-term accommodations, without guest record control. Spasić emphasized that some of the protest organisers in Serbia communicate well with certain like-minded groups and citizens who have fled to Croatia and BiH, adding that he does not rule out the possibility that the young woman was "sent on a specific mission". He noted that this is not the first time BiH citizens, particularly those from areas gravitating toward Sarajevo, have been present in Serbia, but that in the past they were mostly connected to criminal circles, providing one another with asylum and escape routes across the border. Spasić said that such a terrorist act is something new, and that the Serbian authorities will likely have to establish new legal procedures concerning the stay of foreign nationals, not only from BiH but also from Croatia and other neighbouring countries. He also found it unusual that hundreds of people from BiH and Croatia recently came to Serbia during the protests marking the anniversary of the canopy collapse at the Novi Sad railway station. "This is quite unusual, and I suspect the involvement of foreign intelligence services, not only directly but probably indirectly, through persuasion. The same applies to the recent shooting incident outside the Serbian Parliament building", Spasić said. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office Belgrade announced that early this morning, a 24-year-old BiH citizen, identified as M.A., attempted to kill a police officer with a knife at the Savski Venac Police Station. The officer, after issuing warnings, fired several shots from his service weapon into the air and the floor, one of which hit the suspect in the leg. The officer, identified as V.V., sustained minor injuries, while the suspect was hospitalized at the Military Medical Academy /MMA/ for surgery. She will later be held for up to 48 hours on suspicion of attempted murder, the Prosecutor’s Office stated. It is suspected that around 16:00, M.A. approached the entrance of the Savski Venac Police Station and argued with officer V.V., demanding that the "police go to Ćacilend". Subsequent checks established that M.A. entered Serbia on September 29 and had no registered residence.