After five days of hunger strike and four days spent in front of the Becej Municipality building, including the first night outside the family home, Kristina Demeter Filipchev announced that she was ending the protest at the insistence of her husband, stating that her son Ivan was finding it increasingly difficult to bear his mother’s absence and that he no longer wanted to risk the health of his family.
Her decision represents the epilogue of a multi-day struggle that began with a warning strike, continued with a hunger strike, a protest in support of citizens and the radicalization of the protest, during which she decided not to go home anymore but to stay 24 hours a day in front of the Bečej Municipality building, he announced. Webinfo.
From a warning strike to a hunger strike
Kristina Demeter Filipčev, journalist of the Bečejski mozaik portal and mother of a disabled child, and Iva Hromiš, member of the Bečej Municipal Assembly and mother of a child with developmental disabilities, launched a months-long fight with the local government due to the rejection of the request for retroactive reimbursement of the costs of transporting their children from home to school.
Before starting the hunger strike, they organized a two-hour warning strike, after which they were received by the deputy president of the municipality, Dane Mandić. As they stated at the time, they were told that their case would be reviewed and that an attempt would be made to find a solution, but there was no response.
Therefore, on June 15, they started a hunger strike in front of the Bečej Municipality building, stating that they have exhausted all administrative possibilities and that they want to point out, as they claim, non-respect of the legal rights of children with disabilities and developmental disabilities.
Discussion with the mayor and media attention
On the first day of the strike, the president of the ANEM Board of Directors, Veran Matić, as well as the journalistic teams of N1, Insider, Szabad Magyar Szo, Blokada Info and WEBINFO were present in front of the Municipality building.
On that day, the president of the municipality, Vuk Radojević, appeared in front of the two mothers in front of the municipality building, accompanied by several media crews, and called on them to end their hunger strike, stating that he wanted to talk. Instead of a meeting behind closed doors, there was a several-minute discussion on the street in front of the cameras.
Kristina Demeter Filipchev and Iva Hromish later stated that during the day they expected a conversation without the presence of cameras and that they believe that such a sensitive topic, which concerns the rights of their children, should have been discussed in the office, and not in a public space. They stated that there was no substantive dialogue, but that, in their opinion, it was a public address to the media.
This event was followed by texts and television reports on certain media outlets outside of Bečej, in which the mothers were presented as persons who refused to speak and verbally attacked the mayor and the press team, with assessments that it was “political abuse of children”, “political theater” and “a means of blackmail”. Kristina Demeter Filipčev and Iva Hromiš rejected such allegations, claiming that they did not refuse the interview, but that they did not want to discuss their demands in front of the cameras and media crews who, as they say, appeared together with the mayor. As proof of their claims, they also published a video of the entire event, on the basis of which, as they said, the public can judge for themselves what really happened in front of the Municipality building.
A large gathering of support and the termination of Ivo Hromiš’s strike
On the second day of the strike, a rally of support was held, where a large number of Bečej citizens gathered, as well as people from other cities.
Councilor Milan Bokun, Bravo Movement councilor Marija Srdić, activist Dijana Hrka and Kristina Demeter Filipčev spoke at the meeting.
During Diana Hrka’s emotional address, she knelt before Iva Hromis and asked her to end her hunger strike due to her pregnancy.
After the appeal of the doctor and her family, Iva Hromiš stopped her hunger strike and then her daily stay in front of the Municipality building due to her health condition, but she said that she would not give up the fight and would continue through legal means.
Radicalization of protest
Kristina Demeter Filipchev continued the protest alone.
On the fourth day she said yes radicalizes the strike and that he will no longer go home, but will stay 24 hours a day in front of the Bečej Municipality building.
She spent the first night in front of the Municipality building, while her husband stayed at home with their two children.
That evening, around 11:30 p.m., WEBINFO recorded that lights were on in several offices of the municipal building, including the office of the municipal president. The editors had no knowledge of who was in the building at that moment.
Radojević called for an end to the strike and announced a conversation
On the fifth day of the strike, the president of the municipality of Bečej Vuk Radojević invited Kristina Demeter Filipčev to stop the protest and said that he is ready for a private conversation and personal engagement to help families of children with developmental disabilities.
He pointed out that specific requests are decided by the competent Department for Social Activities, not the mayor.
“I urge them to use all the legal instruments at their disposal. Maybe the Department is wrong, but I can’t claim that. I’m not a lawyer and I can’t judge,” Radojevic said.
He added that he is ready to talk to Kristina Demeter Filipchev regardless of differences in views and that he will invite her to a meeting.
“My son is getting more and more difficult to bear my absence”
A few hours after that, Kristina Demeter Filipchev called published is to end the hunger strike.
“I am ending the strike at my husband’s insistence because my son Ivan is getting more and more difficult to tolerate my absence and there is a danger that his health condition will also deteriorate. I miss my other son and it seems to me that it makes no sense to risk life and health because of SNS ideology and politics, which is in the film manner of Šojić. We are not from the same movie,” she stated.
She thanked everyone who supported her, but also those who did not.
“I thank everyone who supported me, but also those who didn’t, because they only helped me to resolve the dilemma I had. Once again, I thank everyone and I hope that we will meet in another, more beautiful film in the future,” she said.
The legal battle continues
Although the hunger strike is over, the dispute between the two families and the Municipality of Bečej is not over.
Kristina Demeter Filipčev and Iva Hromiš previously announced the initiation of an administrative dispute and other legal proceedings due to the rejection of the request for retroactive reimbursement of the transportation costs of their children with disabilities and developmental disabilities.
After five days of protests and a lot of public attention, the fight is moving from the area in front of the Municipality building to the institutions, where the competent authorities and the court will have the final say.
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