Serbia: 'Imagine your son spending Xmas in prison' - Djokovic's mother on star's hotel detention

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Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the National Assembly to show their support for Novak Djokovic as he awaits a decision by Australian authorities on his deportation, in Belgrade on Friday.

Protesters waved flags, danced, chanted and held signs and pictures of the tennis player.
Djokovic’s family also addressed the crowd and spoke to the media.

Djokovic’s mother Dijana Djokovic made a statement to the media at the steps of the National Assembly. “Just imagine that you have a son who is spending Christmas, our Orthodox Christmas, in prison. For me, that’s a prison, that’s not like immigration hotel, that is a prison because they don’t allow him to go out, they don’t allow him anything, he is like a criminal,” his mother said.

Djokovic is currently being held in an immigration detention hotel after he was denied entry to Australia on Thursday. The player had arrived in the country to defend his Australian Open title with special permission regarding his vaccine status. Djokovic has previously spoken out against the vaccine and has not declared his immunisation status publicly. Australian authorities have said he his free to leave the country when he wants.

Fans attending the protest also voiced their concerns. “I feel humiliated. As a big fan of Novak and as a citizen of a small but proud country, I feel terrible. And let this message be sent to Novak - we are all by his side,” explained Jovana Slavnic.

The special permission angered Australians, especially those in Melbourne where the tournament will take place. Melburnians have faced one of the strictest lockdowns in the world and have themselves had an uptake of 90 percent of the vaccine.

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SOT, Tanja Jokic, Fan (Serbian): “This is catastrophe. A Serb like him, to go though something like this on biggest Christian holiday - it is outrageous. Especially, when you know that he has helped everyone, he is a humanitarian.”

SOT, Jovana Slavnic, Fan (Serbian): “I feel humiliated. As a big fan of Novak and as a citizen of small but proud country, I feel terrible. And let this message be sent to Novak - we are all by his side.”

SOT, Dijana Djokovic, Novak Djokovic’s Mother: “Just imagine that you have a son who is spending Christmas, our Orthodox Christmas in prison. For me, that’s a prison, that’s not like immigration hotel, that is prison because they don’t allow him to go out, they don’t allow him anything, he is like a criminal.”

SOT, Gordana Djordjevic, Novak fan (Serbian): “It is really sad to see this. An extraordinary man and the world’s best sportsman is being treated like that - like a criminal. As a mother too, I also feel devastated.”

SOT, Svetislav Jankovic, Novak’s fan (Serbian): “We can’t even express how tough and sad this is for us. See this racket I am holding. Nobody knows how hard it is to achieve something with it, how hard is to reach number one with a racket. They don’t respect that fact. They don’t have to love him, but they should respect his efforts and his results.”

#Serbia #NovakDjokovic

Video ID: 20220107-038

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