Leviathan Movement


The Leviathan Movement is a far-right ultranationalist and neo-fascist political party in Serbia, that identifies as an animal rights organization. It has been criticized for its anti-human rights behaviour and ideology. The movement is led by Pavle Bihali, a grandson of the late Serbian-Jewish academic, :sh:Pavle Bihali|Pavle Bihalji and a grand-nephew of Oto Bihalji-Merin.

History

The organization was founded in 2015 as an animal rights organization that seeks to protect animals. Since then, the organization quickly got attention and it became the largest animal rights organization in ex-Yugoslavia. In 2016, the movement became popular when videos of the members of organization rescuing animals showed up on social media, as well as videos of them offering compensation for information on animal abusers. Initially, the movement only focused on animal rights issues, exposing animal abusers, and taking their animals away from them. However, the movement has shifted from solely being an animal rights group to openly talking about political issues, mainly illegal immigration. In 2020, the organization announced that they will be forming a party that will participate in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election, in a coalition with the anti-vax, eurosceptic, anti-immigration and ultranationalist "I live for Serbia" movement. The party since then has been described as ultranationalist, neo-fascist and anti-immigration by the media.

Controversies

Leviathan has been heavily criticized for its anti-human rights behaviour. In November 2018, the leaders of the movement, Pavle Bihali and Aleksandar Buhanac were arrested for making threats on Facebook, but soon after they were released. Even after this, he continued threatening people on social media, including minors.
In April 2020, members of the movement took the family dog of a Romani family away from them, claiming that the dog was abused and that it was used for dog fights. However this claim was denied by the people living in the neighbourhood. Not long after, a member of Leviathan drove through the gate of a refugee camp in Obrenovac, threatening to run over the refugees. After the attacker was arrested, the members of the movement protested in front of the camp.

Electoral results

YearLeaderPopular vote% of popular vote# of seatsSeat changeCoalitionsGovernment
2020Pavle Bihali22,6910.7%with I live for Serbianon-parliamentary