I am very honoured that this year I am winning my second Grand Prix. This time for the photo ”Trapped”
taken during July protests in Belgrade.
The one-week long anti-government protests caused by a high level of frustration with
government measures in dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic took place in July 2020 in front of
the Serbian Parliament in Belgrade. The protests were triggered by President’s announcement
on reintroducing curfew which had been in place for almost two months from March to May.
At the end of the day 4 of the Belgrade’s anti-government protests, the silence was suddenly
broken by screaming for help from the dark park just across the Serbian Parliament. The
screaming draw attention to a disturbing scene of a young protester trapped by the undercover
police officer who, surrounded by his colleagues, strongly applied pressure on the protester,
holding him tightly on the ground – the scene that was incredibly reminiscent of the tragic event
from the U.S. when a police officer killed an African-American, George Floyd, applying a similar
arresing technique. The scene instilled fear in the citizens present who kept shouting to let the
young man go. The fear and despair were visible not only in the young man’s eyes,but also in
the eyes of the policeman, since he was also trapped, but by the surrounding citizens and
photojournalists.
Veliko mi je zadovoljstvo što ove godine osvajam drugi Grand Prix, ovog puta za forotgrafiju ”U klopci”
nastalu na julskim protestima u beogradu.
Izložba i svečana dodela nagrada biće sutra 21. novembra u 19h, u galeriji Progres.
Julski protesti praćeni velikim nemirima obeležili su leto 2020. godine. Tokom nedelju dana
uličnih protesta narod je svoje veliko nagomilano nezadovoljstvo izrazio na beogradskim
ulicama, tačnije ispred Narodne skupštine. Neposredni povod za proteste bile su vladine mere u
borbi protiv Covid 19 pandemije, kao i objava predsednika o ponovnom uvođenju restriktivnih
mera koje su trajale gotovo dva meseca.
Na samom kraju četvrtog dana Beogradskih protesta protiv Vlade, nakon što je policijski kordon
uveliko rasterao demonstrante, tišina koja je zavladala iznenada je prekinuta povicima “upomoć”
koji su dopirali iz mračnog Pionirskog parka, preko puta Skupštine. Vrisak je privukao pažnju
nekolicini građana koji su ugledali uznemirujući prizor policajca u civilu, koji okružen svojim
kolegama, snažno, vršeći pritisak svojim telom, drži na zemlji mladog protestanta. Scena je
neopisivo podsećala na nedavni tragičan događaj iz SAD-a, kada je policajac usmrtio
Afro-amerikanca Džordža Flojda, primenjujući sličnu tehniku hapšenja. Strah i očaj bili su vidljivi
u očima mladog momka koji je gotovo nepomično ležao na travi, ali takođe i u očima policajca,
jer je i on bio zarobljen, od strane okruženih građana i novinara.