A young Serb brutally beaten in Croatia only beacuse he is SERB!

A young Serb was beaten in a coffee shop in the town of Okučani in west Slavonija because of a song on jukebox - reports Jutarnji list news agency.

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- I came to the coffee shop to meet a friend. I did not disturb anybody, and I am not a vindictive person. I came up to the jukebox and played a song, and there was a guy standing in my face who did not like it - said Jovan Matijević (23) from the town of Pakrac.

- He slapped me in the face. I tried to defend myself, but he knocked me to the head with his knee. I do not remember what happened after, I came to myself only after a friend of mine, a Croat, helped me - said Jovan.

The friend he is talking about is his neighbor Danijel and they have known each other for 20 years.

- We did not disturb anybody, and we did not want trouble. They attacked him because he is a Serb, but I managed to talk them out of it - added Danijel.

Jovan got the face and injuries on both of his eyes; one eye is completely shut so the doctors prescribed some antibiotics and painkillers.

His worst fear is that he will have to stay at home and rest and lose his job because of it.

They said that they are friends even though there are people who tell them they should not.

- We have known each other for long time and we should not hate each other because of the past. We are both too young, we did not fight in the war and that is not our business - said Danijel.

Reporters of the Jutarnji list visited the coffee shop where the incident had occurred.

The guests said there was a fight but that it was not because of national hatred.

They claimed a young man was beaten because he behaved uncivilized.

They also said they do not hold a grudge towards Serbs, and they showed that most of the songs in the jukebox are Serbian.

- As you can see, we do not have Croatian nationalist songs, and the guy was beaten because he was impertinent. We even saw a photo of him with a Serbian nationalist mark on it - said one of the guests who was present during the fight but he did not take part in.

They did not reply to the question about the title of the song.

They just said: "We do not remember the song, but why he had to play that one?"

"I am drunk, but I am not a fool" is alleged song title and it is a love song.

Police has confirmed that there was a report of a fight some 20 minutes after midnight on February 19, where several people took part in.

- The attack took place in the municipality of Okučani, where a 23-year-old Croatian citizen sustained lesser wounds - said the PR of the police force, Ivana Radić.

She said that the police are questioning other persons connected with this incident.

If the reason for the fight turns out to be nationalist hatred, the police has to react and prosecute the parties.

(Telegraf.co.uk)