In the region of Novi Sad and Belgrade on Jan. 25, police arrested 12 members of sports fans groups, suspected of conducting an organized attack on supporters of the Croatian Handball team in Novi Sad in the evening on Jan. 24.

The police found fire arms and cold weapons with several suspects. Police official Mladen Kuribak earlier told BETA that the police were looking for the organizers and that 37 people suspected of being involved in the attacks had been taken in.

At the time of the attack, Croatian supporters were returning home in a convoy of five, six vehicles, after their team's triumph at the European Handball Championship.

The attack, which occurred in a suburb of Novi Sad, "was well organized," according to witnesses. They also said one vehicle had stopped suddenly in front of the convoy of vehicles with the Croatian car plates, which some 50 young men then attacked with stones, bricks and even axes.

The media reported that one Croatian van was set on fire in Ruma, but no one was injured in the incident.

The Croatian Foreign Ministry on Jan. 25 protested the attack to Serbian Ambassador Stanimir Vukicevic, who informed Zagreb about the measures being taken by the Serbian police.

The attack was severely condemned by officials of Vojvodina and Novi Sad, NGOs from the region gathered at the Igman Initiative and the coalition of NGOs Gradjanska Vojvodina (Civic Vojvodina).