Obraz

Obraz (Serbian: Отачаствени покрет Образ, Otačastveni pokret Obraz) is a Serbian far right organization. The organization is classified as an Orthodox clero-fascist by several organizations and state institutions, including Assembly of Vojvodina and the Serbian Ministry of Interior.[1] While swearing allegiance to the Serbian nation and to the Serbian Orthodox religion, Obraz is committed to a struggle against those groups which it views as enemies of the Serbian people, such as "Zionists, converts to Islam, Ustashe, democrats, false pacifists, perverts, criminals and drug addicts".[2]

Contents

Activities

Members of "Obraz" Movement are also active at the Philological Faculty. In late 2001 they staged the First Assembly of the Orthodox-National Youth at the Belgrade University after 1944. Participants in the Assembly were members of society “Sveti Justin Filozof”, Serbian Assembly "Dveri", and the Serbian Orthodox priests. However most emphasised was the “Spiritual vertical of the Serb history and Serb people”. The rally underlined the spiritual authority of Justin Popović and Nikolaj Velimirović and urged creation of the Serb state in line with their ideas. There were many priests and also girls dressed in Serb folk-costumes. The Assembly also called on reconciliation between followers of Draža Mihailović, and dissemination of their ideas in schools.

Obraz praised war criminal indictees Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić: "We salute the last of Serb heroes! Gen. Ratko Mladić [...] and Dr. Radovan Karadžić [...] led Bosnian Serbs in their fight for survival; we thank the great men for ther sacrifices with a hope that our pages will strike a spark of inspiration for future generations."[2]

According to Professor Dr. Ljubiša Rajić, the message on the Obraz' web site: "re-hashes old ideas of Svetosavlje, which attach primary importance to assembly-making, monarchy, clericalism, conservatism, and patriarchal culture. Moreover those ideas are currently openly espoused by contemporary ideologues of Serb nationalism, the far-right parties and some Serbian Orthodox priests”.

But that LGBT bashing is characteristic also of other organisations, like Homeland Front "Obraz", which according to Nebojsa M. Krstic, president of movement "verbally fights against abuses of human rights committed for the sake of legalisation of sexually deviant homosexuals and lesbians and numerous sects in our country"

In February 2008, Obraz symbols were displayed at a Kosovo Serb rally in the northern part of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica[3] and during the Kosovo is Serbia rally in protest against the independence of Kosovo.[4] And in September 2009, they openly defied through propaganda posters the realisation of the Gay Pride Parade in Belgrade[5].

On February 28, 2009, the Human and Minority Rights Ministry of Serbia sought to close Obraz and submitted an initiative to look into the legality of its work.[6]

On July 11, 2009, after the burial of 543 victims in Srebrenica, a group of men and women associated with Obraz "chanted insults directed towards the victims and in support of the Chetnik movement, calling for eradication of Islam".[7]

Literature

References

  1. ^ "Prvi zvaničan spisak neonacista". B92. 10 December 2010. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2005&mm=12&dd=10&nav_id=182260. 
  2. ^ a b Ramet, Sabrina P. (2008). Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at Peace and at War: Selected Writings, 1983-2007. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 144. ISBN 3037359129. 
  3. ^ Kosovo: Time For Serbia To Wake Up, Radio Free Europe, February 29, 2008
  4. ^ Photos 2 and 4 of the essay “Belgrade Riots”, TIME Magazine, February 21, 2008
  5. ^ Serbian gay parade is called off, BBC News, September 19, 2009
  6. ^ "Ministry in bid to shut down Obraz". B92. 28 February 2009. http://www.b92.net:8080/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=02&dd=28&nav_id=57492. 
  7. ^ "Controversial group in Srebrenica incident". B92. 13 July 2009. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/region-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=07&dd=13&nav_id=60466. 

External links