Italy - Goran Davidović - Neo-Nazi leader “received visa legally”
Richard Rollins | 15.04.2009 18:26 | Anti-racism | Liverpool | World
BELGRADE 9 April 2009-- Goran Davidović, the leader of a Serbian neo-Nazi organization, received a visa legally, according to Italian Ambassador to Belgrade Alessandro Merola.
Goran Davidović (Beta, archive)
Merola said that Davidović’s name had not featured on a Schengen visa black list, and had there therefore been given one.
He told daily Danas that neither the Serbian prosecution nor police had given the embassy any information that the Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) leader had a prison sentence hanging over him in Serbia.
“Davidović was not on the list of people who should not be issued a Schengen visa. He did not exist—therefore there was no reason not to give him a visa,” Merola explained.
Davidović had been due to begin serving his one-year sentence for inciting racial, religious and national hatred and intolerance in March.
The verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court, but instead of going to Sombor prison, Davidović went to Italy instead.
Merola said that Davidović had had a valid passport and had applied for a family visitor visa, since his wife lives in Italy.
Warrant issued for Novi Sad "Fuehrer"
NOVI SAD -- Novi Sad's municipal court has ordered that a warrant should be issued for the arrest of the head of the Nacionalni Stroj neo-Nazi group, Goran Davidović.
Davidović, nicknamed “The Fuehrer“, failed to report to serve a prison sentence hanging over him for spreading ethnic, racial and religious hatred.
Neo-Nazi group leader becomes fugitive
The municipal court said that the suspect’s parents had informed the court that he was alive and working in Italy. Davidović’s parents failed to respond to a court summons, reads a statement from the court.
It adds that the verdict against the Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) leader was upheld by the appeals court on March 16, and that an order was dispatched to him requiring him to report to a prison in Sombor, where he is due to serve his sentence.
The Supreme Court upheld the Novi Sad municipal court’s initial verdict, where Davidović was sentenced to one year in prison for inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance.
The leader of the Nacionalni Stroj neo-Nazi organization has gone on the run after failing to report to begin serving a prison sentence, according to Radio 021.
According to the Novi Sad radio station, Goran Davidović, who is currently living in Italy, does not intend to return to Serbia to serve his one-year prison sentence in Sombor, adding that he will not turn himself in to police and that he will take his case to the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Serbian Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Novi Sad District Court, which sentenced Davidović to one year in jail for promoting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance.
Davidović and 20 members of Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) disrupted an anti-fascism forum on November 9, 2005—International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism—in Novi Sad, assaulting and insulting a number of members of the audience.
Several Nacionalni Stroj members were also seen giving Nazi-style salutes at the conference.
At the initiative of the Justice Ministry, the state public prosecution submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court calling for the organization’s work to be outlawed as it openly promotes racial and national hatred.
Embassy: Neo-Nazi leader received Italian visa
27 March 2009
BELGRADE -- The Italian Embassy in Belgrade says that it issued Goran Davidović, leader of the neo-Nazi Nacionalni Stroj organization, a one-year visa on August 5, 2008.
The embassy has issued a statement saying that Davidović was issued the visa under standard procedures, in the absence of any information from the Serbian authorities.
It is stated that the Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) leader addressed the embassy’s consular section last August, seeking a family visitor visa on the valid grounds that his wife, Aleksandra Bikić, had permanent residency in Italy and possessed a valid residency permit.
“That day Mr. Davidović submitted his passport, which had been issued on September 17, 2002, and which was valid until September 17, 2012,“ reads the statement.
“In the absence of any information from the Serbian authorities... a visa was issued to him on the authorization of the police authorities in Trieste on August 5, 2008, valid for 365 days, under standard procedure,“ the statement adds.
The Nacionalni Stroj leader received a summons last week to report to Sombor prison to serve a one-year sentence issued by the Novi Sad District Court and upheld by the Supreme Court.
Davidović was found guilty of inciting racial, religious and national hatred.
He says that he has no intention of responding to the summons and that he is “in exile“ in Italy, writing a new book.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=03&dd=27&nav_id=58116
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=03&dd=20&nav_id=57971
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=04&dd=09&nav_id=58399
He told daily Danas that neither the Serbian prosecution nor police had given the embassy any information that the Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) leader had a prison sentence hanging over him in Serbia.
“Davidović was not on the list of people who should not be issued a Schengen visa. He did not exist—therefore there was no reason not to give him a visa,” Merola explained.
Davidović had been due to begin serving his one-year sentence for inciting racial, religious and national hatred and intolerance in March.
The verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court, but instead of going to Sombor prison, Davidović went to Italy instead.
Merola said that Davidović had had a valid passport and had applied for a family visitor visa, since his wife lives in Italy.
Warrant issued for Novi Sad "Fuehrer"
NOVI SAD -- Novi Sad's municipal court has ordered that a warrant should be issued for the arrest of the head of the Nacionalni Stroj neo-Nazi group, Goran Davidović.
Davidović, nicknamed “The Fuehrer“, failed to report to serve a prison sentence hanging over him for spreading ethnic, racial and religious hatred.
Neo-Nazi group leader becomes fugitive
The municipal court said that the suspect’s parents had informed the court that he was alive and working in Italy. Davidović’s parents failed to respond to a court summons, reads a statement from the court.
It adds that the verdict against the Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) leader was upheld by the appeals court on March 16, and that an order was dispatched to him requiring him to report to a prison in Sombor, where he is due to serve his sentence.
The Supreme Court upheld the Novi Sad municipal court’s initial verdict, where Davidović was sentenced to one year in prison for inciting ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance.
The leader of the Nacionalni Stroj neo-Nazi organization has gone on the run after failing to report to begin serving a prison sentence, according to Radio 021.
According to the Novi Sad radio station, Goran Davidović, who is currently living in Italy, does not intend to return to Serbia to serve his one-year prison sentence in Sombor, adding that he will not turn himself in to police and that he will take his case to the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Serbian Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the Novi Sad District Court, which sentenced Davidović to one year in jail for promoting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance.
Davidović and 20 members of Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) disrupted an anti-fascism forum on November 9, 2005—International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism—in Novi Sad, assaulting and insulting a number of members of the audience.
Several Nacionalni Stroj members were also seen giving Nazi-style salutes at the conference.
At the initiative of the Justice Ministry, the state public prosecution submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court calling for the organization’s work to be outlawed as it openly promotes racial and national hatred.
Embassy: Neo-Nazi leader received Italian visa
27 March 2009
BELGRADE -- The Italian Embassy in Belgrade says that it issued Goran Davidović, leader of the neo-Nazi Nacionalni Stroj organization, a one-year visa on August 5, 2008.
The embassy has issued a statement saying that Davidović was issued the visa under standard procedures, in the absence of any information from the Serbian authorities.
It is stated that the Nacionalni Stroj (tr. National Formation) leader addressed the embassy’s consular section last August, seeking a family visitor visa on the valid grounds that his wife, Aleksandra Bikić, had permanent residency in Italy and possessed a valid residency permit.
“That day Mr. Davidović submitted his passport, which had been issued on September 17, 2002, and which was valid until September 17, 2012,“ reads the statement.
“In the absence of any information from the Serbian authorities... a visa was issued to him on the authorization of the police authorities in Trieste on August 5, 2008, valid for 365 days, under standard procedure,“ the statement adds.
The Nacionalni Stroj leader received a summons last week to report to Sombor prison to serve a one-year sentence issued by the Novi Sad District Court and upheld by the Supreme Court.
Davidović was found guilty of inciting racial, religious and national hatred.
He says that he has no intention of responding to the summons and that he is “in exile“ in Italy, writing a new book.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=03&dd=27&nav_id=58116 http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=03&dd=20&nav_id=57971 http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=04&dd=09&nav_id=58399
Richard Rollins
