Damir Dokic arrested over threat to blow up Australian embassy
NEWS.com.au
May 07, 2009 05:06am
 Bazooka comment ... Damir Dokic says he has an arsenal of weapons in his house to carry out the threat / file |
- Damir Dokic arrested for bomb threat
- Australian embassy in Belgrade the target
- Illegal bombs, weapons found in his home
- Pictures: Jelena's ups and downs
The father of Australian tennis ace Jelena was arrested at about 2am Sydney time after threatening to blow up the Australian embassy in Belgrade.
An Interior Ministry official did not elaborate on the explosive devices allegedly found at Mr Dokic's home at Vrdnik north of Belgrade.
Seven hunting rifles and a Beretta handgun were also found in the home, with Mr Dokic holding permission to possess the weapons.
But a cache of .357-calibre bullets may also have been held illegally.
"Nobody can threaten the security of a foreign embassy,'' aSerbian Government spokesman said of Dokic's arrest.
The notoriously volatile father can be held for 48 hours without charge before he has to be taken before an investigating judge.
Mr Dokic had phoned the embassy in a rage this week after Jelena claimed in an interview that she was physically abused by her father.
He told Serbian newspaper Blic: "Yes I did call them yesterday and I told them I was going to fire a bazooka on the ambassador's car.
"I've had it with the lies they are telling about me from that country. Because of those lies, it has destroyed my family.
"I'm very serious about my intentions.''
He insisted he had the means to carry out his threat.
"I have an arsenal of weapons in my house. I have a licence for all the weapons I have.
"I don't have a bazooka, but it is not a problem for me to get a bazooka.
"It is enough for me to snap my fingers and a lot of people are going to leave a bazooka in front of my gate.''
Extra security has been provided to the Australian ambassador, Clare Birgin, after Mr Dokic's threats.
Hours before he was arrested, Mr Dokic said it was normal for parents to physically punish their children.
"It is true that sometimes I slapped my children,'' he told News Ltd from his home in Serbia last night.
"But I never physically or mentally abused my children. I only gave them a slap a few times as every parent does.''
Adding that beatings from his own father put him on a straight path in life, he said he no longer wanted any contact with his daughter.
"I was very disciplined with her. When I coached her I always told her what to eat, when to sleep, that there was no talking to journalists.
"But that was during the tournaments, it required discipline. All the coaches did that.''
Jelena this week claimed in her interview that she had fled from her family in 2002 to escape abuse from her father, a former truck driver who became her coach.
"I've been through a lot worse than anybody on the tour. I can say that with confidence,'' she told Sport & Style magazine.
"When you go through stuff like that, playing a tennis match is a pretty easy thing to do. When I win today it's so much more satisfying.''
Jelena, 26, who made it to the quarter finals of this year's Australian Open, is also set to make further claims that her now estranged father was responsible for bruises noticed by competitors and coaches.
Mr Dokic, thrown out of the 2000 US Open after arguing over a piece of salmon and escorted from Wimbledon for disruptive behaviour the same year, has been living on acreage at Vrdnik north of Belgrade.
My father abused me, says Jelena Dokic
THE tennis player Jelena Dokic says that her father, Damir, physically abused her during their tumultuous relationship.
Dokic, who is estranged from her father, has told how she fled from her family in 2002 to escape the violence.
After more than 10 years of speculation in tennis circles, Dokic said in an exclusive interview with the Fairfax magazine Sport&Style: "I've been through a lot worse than anybody on the tour. I can say that with confidence.
"When you go through stuff like that, playing a tennis match is a pretty easy thing to do. … When I win today it's so much more satisfying.
After a rocky relationship with Australian tennis fans, Dokic won back the nation with her feisty performance in the Australian Open this year when she reached the quarter-finals after having to rely on a wildcard for entry.
Dokic, 26, went through years of mental turmoil after packing her bags and fleeing what she called "the situation".
"There was a period where there was nothing that could make me happy … I wanted somebody's else's life."
Dokic has the support of another tennis player, Mary Pierce, who suffered at the hands of her father, Jim. However, while Pierce has the support of her mother, Dokic was alone.
It was difficult to advise someone who was being abused, she said.
"Everyone has a different situation, different problem. No one really knows what I dealt with. I don't know what others deal with."
She credited her boyfriend Tin Bikic for helping her recover. Asked about troubling memories, she said sometimes she thought, "Why me?" But she had only to look around to see other people who were far worse off, she said.
"Whatever has happened, good or bad, will always stay there. It makes you what you are. But I think it's a little bit selfish [to feel sorry for yourself] … you see a person in a wheelchair and you can't help feel, 'Well I'm pretty lucky to be here … we are healthy, we still have our lives ahead of us … Then you feel lucky."
Damir Dokic hung up when contacted by the Herald.
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