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| MIKICA PETROVIC/ASSOCIATED
PRESS |
| A gay activist, right, sprays a
young thug with tear gas during a gay-rights gathering in Belgrade
Saturday, June 30. | BELGRADE (AP) - Roving bands
of young men attacked participants in what was believed to be the first
homosexual-rights march in Yugoslavia's capital, circling them one by one
Saturday and kicking them until police intervened.
Dozens of people were reported injured, including a half-dozen
police officers deployed to the capital's main square. Hospital officials
said none of the injuries was life-threatening.
The melee began even before the scheduled start of the gathering,
as dozens of members of a Serbian-nationalist group appeared at the
Republic Square to prevent the march from taking place.
One of the attackers told B-92 radio: ''We are here to prevent
immorality in Serbia,'' while others shouted ''Serbia is not a gay
country.''
Later the front-door window of the offices of a political party
that supports homosexual rights was smashed.
Belgrade police chief Bosko Buha said in a statement to B-92 radio
he had not expected so many and such aggressive counter-protesters to
appear at the march and therefore deployed only 50 policemen without riot
gear. Some of the police were forced to fire shots in the air to disperse
the crowd, witnesses said.
Buha said about a dozen attackers were detained by mid-afternoon.
Police were chasing them throughout Belgrade and were expecting more
arrests.
The homosexual event was just one of several marches being held
throughout Europe this month to draw attention to alleged discrimination
and urge political leaders to grant equal rights.
An unidentified female activist told B-92: ''We will not give up our
rights and our struggle to introduce democracy in Serbia. I am sorry that
there are still people who promote hatred.''
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