The Heart of Serbia

On September 17th, a group of Toulouse, France football fans were sitting in a bar in Belgrade before the Toulouse/Partizan match minding their own business. At the same time, a group of Partizan soccer hooligans armed with steel bars and baseball bats evidently were gearing up for a fight. Shortly before the match, the group of Serbs attacked the French fans, seriously injuring three of them. During the incident, a 28-year old Frenchman named Brice Taton sustained serious head and chest injuries. Upon learning of the attack, Brice's family flew from France to Serbia to be with him in the hospital. The Serbian doctors tried -- in vain -- to keep him alive. After a two-week battle for his life, Brice Taton died two days ago. Although I did not know Brice, my heart truly breaks for his family and friends.

In the wake of Taton's death, Serbia, a country that has seen more than its share of violence and bloodshed in recent decades, once again finds itself the target of sharp criticism throughout the international community. "Why can't the Serbian government do anything to control these barbaric people?" many ask. "Is Serbia slipping back into its violent past?" others wonder. It is a well-known fact that these kinds of attacks (while rare) are prompted by extremist nationalist groups that take advantage of the youth and adrenaline of soccer fans, and put them up to things like beating up foreign fans, or setting the U.S. Embassy on fire (like they did here in February of 2008).

While all of this may seem like a good reason to leave Serbia and come back to the U.S., I want to reassure this blog's readers that Serbia continues to feel like a safe place to us. As in so many tragedies, Brice Taton was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This kind of violence can -- and does -- happen anywhere. Are there factions in this country that are sinister, and people who need to be punished for their outrageous and criminal behavior? Absolutely. Do such people and groups exist in other parts of the world, as well, and even in the good ole' USA? You bet.

What we have witnessed in Belgrade over the past few days, however, affirms our feelings about Serbia, and about the quality of most Serbs. I would encourage you to look at the photos at this link:

http://www.mtsmondo.com/gallery/index.php?id=2607

These are photos of the crowd of people that gathered to mourn Brice Taton's death on Wednesday, September 30. (The caption of these photos reads "Tatone ovo je Srbija," which means "Taton, this is Serbia." Also, if you go to the drop down menu and click on the next group of photos -- "Stop Nasilju," which means "stop violence" -- you can see photos of the anti-violence demonstration that took place yesterday (Thursday) in response to the Taton incident).

The Serb-organized public tribute to Taton took place on Wednesday in one of the public squares in downtown Belgrade. Thousands of Serbs came out to show their support for Brice and his family, and to make a stand against the violent acts that took his life. A public outcry has ensued here in Belgrade -- some are calling for a national day of mourning for Brice Taton's death, others have planned a demonstration today against the violence generated by radical groups. Others still are calling on the public prosecutors to exact justice against the 11 perpetrators who have been charged with Brice Taton's death.

Serbs are good people. The photos at the link above demonstrate, I believe, the true heart of Serbia -- generous, genuine, caring, and so incredibly saddened -- like the rest of us -- by this unthinkable and inexplicable tragedy. Serbia as a nation should not be blamed for Brice Taton's death, but those who committed this heinous crime, and the groups that have inspired such hatred in a small faction of people here, certainly should be brought to justice.