Obraz (organization)

{{Infobox political party

| name = Obraz

| native_name = Образ

| colorcode = #0c4a8a

| logo =

| founded = 1993

| leader = Mladen Obradović

| ideology = {{ubl|Clerical fascism{{cite book|title=Right-Wing Extremism in Serbia|last=Bakić|first=Jovo|date=February 2013|page=3}}{{cite web|url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/17112011-facing-far-right-extremism-in-serbia-analysis/|title=Facing Far Right Extremism In Serbia|date=17 November 2011|publisher=Eurasia Review}}{{cite web|url=https://www.unique-online.de/serbia-radical-right-homophobia/6221/|title=Serbia's Radical Right and Homophobia|date=11 January 2014|publisher=Unique}}|Neo-fascism{{cite book|title=Serbia and Montenegro: Country Report October 2003|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|date=October 2003|page=28}}{{cite book|title=Temerin: Sadašnjost ili Budućnost Vojvodine|last=Ilić|first=Vladimir|date=May 2012|page=5}}{{cite book|title=Serbia Chronicle 2 - Ethnic tensions in Serbia|publisher=Citizens Network For Peace, Reconciliation and Human Security|date=May 2013|location=Belgrade|page=2}}|Serbian irredentism{{cite book|title=Radicalization: A Constant Threat to Democratic Forces|date=October 2009|publisher=Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia|location=Belgrade|page=2}}|Antisemitism{{cite book|title=Serbia and Montenegro: Country Report October 2003|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|date=October 2003|page=51}}}}

| position = Far-right{{cite web|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2012/06/12/serbia-bans-far-right-obraz/|title=Serbia Bans Far-Right Organisation Obraz|date=12 June 2012|publisher=BIRN}}{{cite book|title=Right-Wing Extremism in Serbia|last=Bakić|first=Jovo|date=February 2013|page=2}}

| religion = Serbian Orthodox Church

| headquarters = Belgrade

| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20210617051355/https://www.obraz.rs/|obraz.rs}} (archived)

| country = Serbia

| flag = Flag of Obraz.svg

}}

Obraz ({{langx|sr|Образ}}; fully the Fatherland Front "Obraz", {{langx|sr|Отачаствени покрет "Образ"|Otačastveni pokret "Obraz"}}, {{Literal translation|cheek}}) is a far-right political organization in Serbia.{{cite news |title=Desničarska organizacija Obraz zaobišla ustavnu zabranu |url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/desnicarska-organizacija-obraz-zabrana-ustav-srbije/30646117.html |work=Radio Slobodna Evropa |language=sh}}{{cite news |title=I "Obraz" u referendumskoj kampanji - Politika - Dnevni list Danas |url=https://www.danas.rs/vesti/politika/i-obraz-u-referendumskoj-kampanji/ |work=Danas |date=12 January 2022 |language=sr-RS}} The Constitutional Court of Serbia banned Obraz in 2012, although it shortly after re-registered under a similar name.{{cite news |last1=TV |first1=Insajder |date=6 December 2017 |title=Zabranjeni Obraz deluje pod drugim imenom, vlast ne reaguje |language=sr |work=insajder.net |url=https://insajder.net/arhiva/tema/zabranjeni-obraz-deluje-pod-drugim-imenom-vlast-ne-reaguje}}

The organization is classified as clero-fascist by several organizations and government institutions, including the government of the Serbian province of Vojvodina and the Serbian Ministry of Interior.{{cite news|title=Prvi zvaničan spisak neonacista|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2005&mm=12&dd=10&nav_id=182260|newspaper=B92.net|date=10 December 2010|language=Serbian}}{{cite news|title=I Obraz najavio šetnju 7. oktobra|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2007&mm=09&dd=28&nav_category=11&nav_id=265474|newspaper=B92.net|date=28 September 2007|language=Serbian}}{{cite news|title=Zabranite ekstremističke grupe|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2005&mm=12&dd=21&nav_category=12&nav_id=183097|newspaper=B92.net|date=21 December 2005|language=Serbian}} On 12 June 2012 Obraz was officially banned by the Constitutional Court of Serbia.{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=06&dd=12&nav_id=80718 |title=B92 |access-date=2014-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106035920/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=06&dd=12&nav_id=80718 |archive-date=2014-01-06 }} While swearing allegiance to the Serbian nation and to the Serbian Orthodox religion, Obraz is committed to a struggle against those groups which it views as enemies of the Orthodox Serbian people, such as "Zionists (which they also include Kabbalists, Manichaeists, Freemasons and Illuminati as part of the wider Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory), Ustashe (mainly Croatian nationalists), Muslim extremists (mainly Bosniak nationalists), Albanian terrorists (mainly Albanian nationalists), false pacifists (mainly human rights activists and NGOs in Serbia), political partisans, sectarians (religious sects), perverts (which they include pedophiles and the LGBT population), drug addicts and criminals (mainly Serbian mafia)". The movement's ideology is mainly influenced by Nikolaj Velimirović, Dimitrije Ljotić and the Yugoslav National Movement Zbor.{{cite book|last=Ramet|first=Sabrina P.|title=Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at Peace and at War: Selected Writings, 1983-2007|year=2008|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-03735-912-9|page=144}}{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=12&nav_category=11&nav_id=284566|title=Obraz na promociji knjige Peščanika|website=B92.net|date=2 December 2008 |access-date=22 November 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.akademediasrbija.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=456:ta-je-otaastveni-pokret-obraz-&catid=38:cat-komentari-vesti&Itemid=54|title=ŠTA JE OTAČASTVENI POKRET OBRAZ ?|first=Slobodan|last=M.Maričić|website=Akademediasrbija.com|access-date=22 November 2017}}

Activities

File:Obradovic_obraz.jpg

In late 2001 they staged the First Assembly of the Orthodox-National Youth at the Belgrade University after 1944. Participants in the Assembly were members of society "Sveti Justin Filozof", Serbian Assembly

"Dveri"{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}, and the Serbian Orthodox priests. However, most emphasised was the "Spiritual vertical of the Serb history and Serb people". The rally underlined the spiritual authority of Justin Popović and Nikolaj Velimirović and urged creation of the Serb state in line with their ideas. There were many priests and also girls dressed in Serb folk-costumes. The Assembly also called on reconciliation between followers of Draža Mihailović, and dissemination of their ideas in schools.

Obraz praised war criminal indictees Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić: "We salute the last of Serb heroes! Gen. Ratko Mladić [...] and Dr. Radovan Karadžić [...] led Bosnian Serbs in their fight for survival; we thank the great men for their sacrifices with a hope that our pages will strike a spark of inspiration for future generations."

According to Professor Dr. Ljubiša Rajić, the message on the Obraz' web site: "re-hashes old ideas of svetosavlje, which attach primary importance to assembly-making, monarchy, clericalism, conservatism, and patriarchal culture. Moreover those ideas are currently openly espoused by contemporary ideologues of Serb nationalism, the far-right parties and some Serbian Orthodox priests”.

File:Cekamo-vas-obraz.jpg that was ultimately banned by the state.{{cite web|url=http://minoritycentre.org/news/unacceptable-ban-belgrade-pride-2009|title=Unacceptable ban of Belgrade Pride 2009 - Regionalni centar za manjine|website=Minoritycentre.org|access-date=22 November 2017}}]]

But that anti-LGBT sentiment{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=06&nav_category=11&nav_id=497250|title="Obraz", pozivi na linč i posledice|website=B92.net|date=3 June 2011 |access-date=22 November 2017}} is characteristic also of other organizations, like Fatherland Front "Obraz", which according to Nebojša M. Krstić, president of movement "verbally fights against abuses of human rights committed for the sake of legalization of sexually deviant homosexuals and lesbians and numerous sects in our country"{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Members of the organization chanted "Death to faggots" ({{langx|sr|Смрт педерима}}).{{cite news |last1=Петровић |first1=Александра |title=Образ" пред Уставним судом |url=http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/201317/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4-%D0%A3%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC-%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BC |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=Politika Online |date=14 December 2011}}

In February 2008, Obraz symbols were displayed at a Kosovo Serb rally in the northern part of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica[http://rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/02/943ed01b-c809-4ca5-a92c-452ed441c08c.html Kosovo: Time For Serbia To Wake Up], Radio Free Europe, 29 February 2008 and during the Kosovo is Serbia rally in protest against the independence of Kosovo.Photos [https://web.archive.org/web/20080225102332/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1715332_1538115,00.html 2] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20080225174531/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1715332_1538120,00.html 4] of the essay “Belgrade Riots”, TIME Magazine, 21 February 2008 And in September 2009, they issued open threats of violence through propaganda posters to the organizers and participants of the Gay Pride Parade in Belgrade.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8264514.stm Serbian gay parade is called off], BBC News, 19 September 2009

On 11 July 2009, after the burial of 543 victims in Srebrenica, a group of men and women associated with Obraz "chanted insults directed towards the victims and in support of the Chetnik movement, calling for eradication of Islam".{{cite news|title=Controversial group in Srebrenica incident|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/region-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=07&dd=13&nav_id=60466|website=B92.net|date=13 July 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104093131/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/region-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=07&dd=13&nav_id=60466|archive-date=4 November 2012}}

Legal status

On 28 February 2009, the Human and Minority Rights Ministry of Serbia sought to close Obraz and submitted an initiative to look into the legality of its work.{{cite news|title=Ministry in bid to shut down Obraz|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=02&dd=28&nav_id=57492|website=B92.net|date=28 February 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323213135/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=02&dd=28&nav_id=57492|archive-date=23 March 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2009&mm=02&dd=28&nav_category=11&nav_id=347442|title=Obraz "ne primećuje" neonacizam|website=B92.net|date=28 February 2009 |access-date=22 November 2017}}

In 2011, Obraz was submitted to the constitutional court of Serbia to be forbidden as an extremist organization and to prevent its registration under a different name.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=03&nav_category=12&nav_id=516499|title=Posle Stroja, slede Obraz i 1389?|website=B92.net|date=6 March 2011 |access-date=22 November 2017}}{{cite news|url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/da_li_ce_ustavni_sud_zabraniti_obraz/24421908.html|title=Da li će Ustavni sud zabraniti "Obraz"|website=Radio Slobodna Evropa|date=14 December 2011 |access-date=22 November 2017|last1=Zorić |first1=Ognjen }}http://www.dnevnik.rs/hronika/treba-li-zabraniti-obraz {{Dead link|date=February 2022}} The leader of this organization Mladen Obradović is accused for calls for lynch of the LGBT population in Serbia in 2009 and 2010. He was convicted for 10 months sentence for threatening LGBT people at the pride parade in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=03&dd=27&nav_category=16&nav_id=594839|title=Vođi "Obraza" 10 meseci zatvora|website=B92.net|date=27 March 2012 |access-date=22 November 2017}} He was also convicted for 2 years for the same crimes at the 2010 pride parade.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=04&dd=20&nav_category=12&nav_id=507404|title=Minimalne kazne za "obrazovce"|website=B92.net|date=20 April 2011 |access-date=22 November 2017}}

On 12 June 2012, the Constitutional Court of Serbia declared Obraz illegal.{{cite web|url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=06&dd=12&nav_category=12&nav_id=617788|title=Ustavni sud Srbije zabranio "Obraz"|website=B92.net|date=6 December 2012 |access-date=22 November 2017}}

Literature

Byford, J.T. (2002). Christian right-wing organisations and the spreading of anti-Semitic prejudice in post-Miloševic Serbia: The case of the Dignity Patriotic Movement. East European Jewish Affairs, Vol. 32(2), 42–60.

References

External links

{{Official website}} {{in lang|sr}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20061215063430/http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw2005/serbia.htm The Stephen Roth Institute]
[http://www.gay-serbia.com/press/2003/03-07-12-nin-dan-onih/index.jsp Gay Serbia on Obraz]
[http://iwpr.net/report-news/serbian-radicals-elicit-church-sympathy IWPR - Serbian Radicals Elicit Church Sympathy]
[http://iwpr.net/report-news/serbia-faces-right-wing-dilemma IWPR - Serbia Faces Right-Wing Dilemma]
[http://iwpr.net/report-news/anti-semitism-raises-its-head-serbia IWPR - Anti-Semitism Raises its Head in Serbia]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070110182017/http://womeninblack.net/stats/conference2001.html Women in Black; statement on Obraz]

Category:Serbian nationalism

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Category:1993 establishments in Serbia