A week ago a bouncer at the (in)famous Global club brutally attacked and killed Gorazd Čamernik, a 20-year-old from Dragomer, just outside Ljubljana. The attack happened Saturday last, at 3.30 AM, just metres from the disco entrance/exit, where the following picture was taken. (incidentally, only metres from The Firm™ as well).
Candles are being lit in memory of Gorazd and in protest against “VIP Varovanje” security company
Today, candles are being in front of Global lit in silent protest against the murder. The protest officially ends at midnight, but I’m sure it will continue on Sunday.
The exact timeline of the incident is not yet known, but apparently Gorazd and his (mostly female) friend left the club at 3.30 AM and were followed by at least two bouncers who attacked him from behind and hit him in the neck. Gorazd apparently hit a sidewalk as he fell and went into a coma and died four days later.
Now, as most of Ljubljana’s hip’n’cool places, Global is notorious for an occasional fight, especially if guys with thick arms, no necks and crew-cuts/bald heads congregate in large numbers and the probability of a bar-brawl obviously increases with the amount of alcohol consumed and cocaince lines sniffed. But the real problem is the fact that guys who start these fights are almost as a rule friends/family/mafia companeros of the bouncers. Or even bouncer-colleagues who are off duty or are working for another company.
Let me add that there are probably leigt bouncers out there who do their job professionally. But the guys at Global are your tipical mafia-connected characters with a) a criminal record and b) no real future. So they actually don’t give a rat’s ass about anything or anybody. And then there are the security companies who are usually ran with people who a) have a criminal record and b) have only a limited futre ahead. Not to mention the fact that the limitations of the law are easily circumvented: the law namely states that the security company must have thirty security guards (“varnostnik”) to get a license for securing a place of public gathering (such as a club).
The law of course doesn’t state that these guards must actually be employed….
You can draw your own conclusions, but my guess is that 90 percent of bouncers are listed as working for several security firms at the same time. So stripping VIP Varovanje of its license will not actually get rid of the violent bouncers. They will just migrate. Like seagulls.
And on a final note: A young man’s life was brutally and prematurely ended. But my guess is that the murderer will get away with a charge of “unintentional manslaughter” (6 months to 5 years jail time). At the very most, the murdered will be charged with proper “manslaughter” (1 to 10 years jail time). But with our notoriously incompetent prosecution it is entirely possible that the murdered will skate clean.
Not to mention that I was in Global that very night and have apparently left only 30 minutes before the tragedy occured.
i knew gorazd since i was 12 years old! he was such a great guy! i’ll miss him!
Gorčo rest in peace my man! your Dragomer Team!
My respects to you fiii, and to Gorazd’s family. Can I also add that I’m happy nothing happened to you, P? It could have been anybody, going by what you wrote here. We used to have the same problem until about three years ago, the government legislation changed and security companies were forced to give proper training and do proper background screening on their bouncers. I know a couple of them and I can tell you, these guys HAVE to operate well within legal bounds. Let’s hope someone in Slovenija comes to their senses and changes legislation so tragedies like this won’t happen anymore…
Shit, you were there and I am sure you couldn’t even imagine what’s gonna happen in a short ammount of time!
I really hope that these 10.000 signs (or how many) will make things about this incident more clear. I am truely sorry for Gorazd’s parents, friends…
Such a senseless waste of a young life… My condolences to family and friends.
May this never be allowed to happen again…
This was a bad situation all around. While I understand the outrage about the death, I think we must also look at the circumstances which combine to create situations where certain young men feel like violence is an appropriate outlet. Of course, every society has its ne’er do-wells, but we shouldn’t sit idly by and accept this behaviour from anyone. The problem goes above and beyond Lock ‘Em Up politics. There needs to be a larger campaign addressing this type of violence qhich occurs on the streets, but even more often in the home. I’m almost certain these men must have used such violence against schoolmates, girlfriends, wives, and maybe even their own children in the past. People must be reminded that this sort of violence is not OK. These things don’t happen in a vacuum. I hope this current public awareness means that next time people see this sort of thing start they will band together to stop it right away.