Serbian police have banned a planned rally by a small neo-Nazi group after it was condemned by Serb parties, non-governmental organisations and the World Jewish Congress.
The “Serbian March -- March for the Unity of Serbia", led by the Nacionalni Stroj (National Front) group, was scheduled for October 7 in the northern city of Novi Sad.
Police said the rally was banned “ecause it endangered public morals and public safety.”
The rally would coincide with the birthday of Heinrich Himmler, the SS commander who orchestrated the murder of hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma (Gypsies) on the territory of the then Yugoslavia in WWII.
The Nacionalni Stroj members -- including 31-year-old leader Goran "The Fuhrer" Davidovic -- have already been jailed for spreading racial hatred in Novi Sad.
The group, whose name means "National Rank" in Serbian, was found guilty of having disrupted a Novi Sad university lecture about the threat of fascism in November 2005, assaulting some participants and raising their arms in the Nazi salute.
In early 2005, anti-Semitic posters and graffiti signed by the group appeared in Novi Sad and Belgrade.
The World Jewish Congress had sent a letter of protest regarding the rally to Serb President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.
In the letter, Ronald Lauder, the WJC’s president said: "The extremist views and neo-Nazi activities of Nacionalni Stroj are well known, and certainly not in line with the principles of a democratic society.”
Similar protests were lodged by local non-governmental organisations in Serbia.
ej press
