“Hysteria after a coordinated campaign in the tabloids”: Political scientist Ljubomir Filipovic for Danas about the death threats he receives

Ljubomir Filipović, a Montenegrin political scientist, has received hundreds of messages threatening him with death and rape, among other things.

A message sent to Ljubomir Filipović stated that his head would be “blown off and his spine broken”. The perpetrators also call for the rape of his family.

“I have documented these messages”, Ljubomir Filipović told Danas.

The hysteria began, our interlocutor continues, after a coordinated campaign in Serbian tabloids.

“On the first day, several articles were published in Vucic’s (Aleksandar, President of Serbia) tabloids (Kurir, Informer, Srpski telegraf), saying that ‘he never has enough; this hater; the biggest Serb hater in the Balkans… ‘This is a machinery’,” he says, adding that the campaign has a pattern of trying to create hysteria and reaction in people.

Filipovic says he was then linked to the Serbian opposition in order to identify “my views with theirs and thus cause them possible damage in the elections”.

“I am one of many targets. People in Serbia face this every day”, he says, adding that it is all aimed at silencing and deflecting criticism.

Ljubomir Filipovic: This is Montenegro today

Filipović has reported the threats to the police, but says he does not expect much. He says his lawyer and his legal advisers are preparing a criminal complaint, which will be filed “today or tomorrow”.

“I had a conversation with the police last night. I don’t expect anything. It is true that the police always do their job fairly,” he says, explaining that the problem lies with the prosecutor’s office and the court.

“The court or the prosecutor’s office either dismisses the criminal complaint or fines someone a few hundred euros for misdemeanours.” So if you have the money, you can do whatever you want. You can ruin people’s lives. That is Montenegro today,” Filipović says.

Djokovic becomes sacralized

Ljubomir Filipovic has received death threats after criticising an event at the Davis Cup where Serbian tennis players, led by Novak Đoković, went out with the song “Veseli se srpski rode” before a match against Italy.

This song has long caused outrage in the region, especially in Kosovo and Montenegro, as it is considered nationalist and calls for the annexation of these countries by Serbia.

FIlipović told our newspaper that Đoković is considered a taboo subject in these areas.

“Something that should not be touched. He is literally sacralised. “His association with the Serbian Orthodox Church helps him to do this,” he says.

Filipović notes that a mechanism has been created for people to identify with Djokovic, so they feel criticism of him as criticism of themselves.

“This is an example of the national-ethnic homogenisation that led to the war in these areas. It seems to be repeating itself, almost 40 years later,” Filipović says./Danas/