Activist from northern Serbia: We are not safe because we want drinking water

Misa Zivanov told N1 on Friday he no longer felt safe in his town after the incident but that he would not give up protests until the problem of water supply and pollution in the Zrenjanin were solved.

"Only in Zrenjanin, it is not normal to ask - why don't I have water and endanger your safety," he said.

Zivanov added that "while the state spends 600 million euros on football broadcasts, the entire town does not have drinking water."

He said that it was one in a series of activities that had been going on for four weeks and in which not only activists of the Zrenjanin action took part, but also people who joined them in protests called "Zrenjanin is thirsty".

"After 15 minutes, unknown young men approached, one of them was talking on the phone. They asked us to step aside and said it was not a political rally. We noted it was not a political gathering but a human rights issue and the need for drinking water. When we asked who demanded that we are removed, a skirmish occurred. That man told me that I would see who sent them," Zivanov said, describing the incident.

He added they called the police, who were nearby. The police later took statements from the activists, and the communal police reported them for a gathering in a public space.

Zivanov said Zrenjanin was not a big town and that he knew who the attackers were.

Zrenjain has been without healthy drinking water for 17 years. Recently, the lack of it was in mutual accusations between the Water Factory management and local Water Supply and Sewerage public company. The Factory accuses the company of being in debt and demand the settlement and continuation of water distribution from the Factory.

Zivanov said the activists demand an explanation about whether the contract between the Water Factory and the communal company was nulled.

He recalled that besides problems with drinking water, there was a tyre factory nearby which the activists blamed for pollution.