The Serb National Council (HNV) on Tuesday condemned an attack on a 28-year-old man from the eastern town of Vinkovci who, according to local media reports, had been beaten up by three ethnic Serb men, saying that it expected the police to punish the perpetrators.

The man was assaulted in Stari Jankovci by “young men filled with hatred. The SNV condemns this and any future act of violence motivated by religious, ethnic, ideological or any other (minority) affiliation. We expect the police to establish the facts and punish those responsible. Physical violence is unacceptable,” the SNV said in a statement.

The SNV appealed to politicians not to use this incident to further undermine ethnic relations in eastern Croatia, but to condemn violence and hatred every time, regardless of the ethnicity of the perpetrators.

Three men from Srijemske Laze, near Vinkovci, have been arrested and charged with attempted murder after they had severely beaten the Vinkovci man at a birthday party ten days ago.

The Vukovar-Srijem police did not give the identity of the attackers or the victim, but local news websites said that Ivan Andrijanic had been beaten up by Serb residents of Srijemske Laze. The news sites also said that the young man was attacked because he requested one of Miroslav Skoro’s songs.