Actor Petar Bencina: Standing By Students Means Being Human 

Petar Bencina, PrtScr: Nova S

Serbian actor Petar Bencina on Dec. 31 said that standing by students was a matter of being human, adding that students’ strength and maturity had become a common denominator that all citizens now shared. 

Speaking to BETA, Bencina said it was the duty of every citizen to be engaged in their own society and to constantly defy incivility and lawlessness. 

“Students, from the very beginning, have enjoyed my absolute support. Their simple demands appear to be terrifying for the regime, most probably because of the very nature of those in power. Students seem to be an unsolvable ‘problem,’ because they embody the strength and maturity which have become a common denominator that are now shared by almost all citizens,” according to one of the most popular actors in Serbia. 

Thanking students for their courage and commitment, Bencina said that their “initially subtle, solitary and bold voice of conscience” was getting stronger every day. “Students have reminded us that taking responsibility for ourselves and others is a duty of all. They are teaching us how to be ourselves again, with some realizing it quicker than the others. I have faith in the fight for order, for equality before the law,” he stressed. 

Speaking about physical attacks on students while they were paying tribute to the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy, Bencina said it was inadmissible to have thugs beat people who represented the country’s future and whose struggle was to ensure respect for the rule of law.