Partizan fan had spleen removed after brutal attack outside Belgrade Arena; says he was beaten over anti-Mladić posts

BELGRADE – Partizan fan Nikola Jovanović was brutally attacked on Friday evening outside the Belgrade Arena, immediately after the EuroLeague game between Partizan and Olimpia Milano, which the Belgrade team won 92:76, according to the magazine Vreme, also published by Danas.

As Vreme reports, a group of about ten people dressed in black attacked Jovanović from behind as he was leaving the Arena; he took multiple blows to the head, ribs and stomach, while the attackers stopped only when someone shouted “police, police” and fled through the crowd.

The consequences were severe: two cracked ribs, a broken finger and a ruptured spleen. Because of the risk of life-threatening internal bleeding, he underwent emergency surgery on Saturday and his spleen was removed. While trying to help him, a friend of his suffered minor facial injuries.

According to Jovanović’s account and several witnesses Vreme spoke to, he had had no prior conflict with the attackers. The attack, he says, is linked to his critical posts on the social network Twitter about Ratko Mladić — according to his testimony, the attackers shouted “Je li crko Ratko!?” (“Is Ratko dead!?”) during the beating and insulted him for writing badly about Mladić, saying he was a “hero”. These are claims by the victim and witnesses, which Serbian media present as such.

Police were notified by the health institution where he was admitted, while his statement was taken after the operation, as Danas reports.