Serbian authorities have denied that security forces used a weapon of mass effect, a so-called sound cannon, to disperse and intimidate participants in a mass protest in Belgrade on March 15th.
The opposition and human rights groups claim that a widely banned weapon that emits directed sound waves to temporarily incapacitate people was used on Saturday.
Serbia has not denied that it has this device in its arsenal.
Protesters on Saturday were standing during a 15-minute silence for the victims of the accident at the Novi Sad train station, when a hissing sound was suddenly heard, causing panic and a brief stampede.
The emission of sound waves in a specific direction can cause severe ear pain, disorientation and panic in those affected. Prolonged exposure can cause ruptured eardrums and permanent hearing damage, military experts say.
Civil society organizations - Belgrade Center for Human Rights, Civic Initiatives, Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights - YUCOM, Initiative A11, FemPlatz and CRTA announced that more than 3.000 citizens contacted them describing the event itself, reporting health problems and physical injuries.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said yesterday that he believes Belgrade will today send a letter of invitation to American and Russian security services to come, due to allegations that the authorities used a "sonic cannon" during the protests.
He told reporters in Belgrade that he believes in the professionalism of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and accused the opposition and those who support them of inventing the sonic cannon.
"Let them (FBA and FSB) say in five, ten, 20 days... it is important for history that you see how they lied," Vučić said.
According to him, the opposition, professors who support the blockades, and certain media outlets are "deceiving the public and brutally lying" about the use of the "sound cannon".
"You can't keep making up stories forever, eventually it turns against you, ... we didn't even raise a baton, the police forces were patient...", he said.
According to him, for some in the opposition and those who support them, it doesn't matter that the police, army, and BIA said there was no "sound cannon."
Outgoing Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević stated earlier yesterday that the government is ready to issue an official invitation to the American FBI and the Russian FSB to come and conduct an investigation into the alleged use of a sonic cannon.
Interior Minister Ivica Dačić claims that the Serbian police have never used illegal means in their history, not even a sound cannon.
"There was no reason to apply such means. We have nothing to hide. It was neither prepared for response, nor has it been used in the history of the Serbian police. I say this under full moral, political and criminal responsibility as the Minister of Internal Affairs," said Dačić.
According to him, several years ago there were ideas to change the law in that area, but the law has not been changed and the police respect it.
Minister of Health Zlatibor Lončar stated yesterday that the allegations of dozens of citizens who, after the student protest, reported various health problems caused by the use of some kind of "sound cannon" or a currently unidentified "generally dangerous device" on King Milan Street are not true.
Lončar told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that on Saturday evening there were various injuries at the Emergency Center typical of events such as protests, but there were "fewer than there would be at a match in Belgrade."
He added that he had consulted with experts about the problems caused by sonic guns and that they told him that the sound, speed, spread and range "have no resemblance to sonic guns."
The Democratic Party (DS) yesterday filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime against an unidentified person on suspicion of "activating an LRAD sound cannon" at Saturday's protest, the use of which is not regulated by Serbian law and which can cause serious consequences for people.
DS President Srđan Milivojević told reporters in front of the prosecutor's office that this was the first time in history that a government, in order to "preserve its seats", had committed "an act of terrorism against its own people".
He claims that the sound cannon is illegally in the possession of Serbian security services, and that the name of the company that manufactured the weapon and purchased it is known, adding that the DS talked about it back in 2022.
When asked by reporters whether it was possible that it was not a sound cannon but some other weapon, Milivojević said that there was a possibility that "the regime was using some other sophisticated weapon," but that it was up to the prosecution to investigate that.
He also assessed the incredible reaction of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office (VJT) in Belgrade, which immediately determined that no sound cannon was used and, instead of listening to the victims, "sided with the perpetrator of the crime" by prejudging that the citizens' claims were allegedly false based on the denials of the University Clinical Center of Serbia.
"Not only are these people not competent to determine this in such a short period of time and say so, but they are now intimidating the victims in favor of the executioners, in favor of their order-givers, and are aligning themselves under the political banner of the Serbian Progressive Party, showing that they are not an independent, impartial institution, but that they are working under political dictates," Milivojević said.
He requested that Vučić, Dačić, and Acting Police Director Dragan Vasiljević be questioned about everything.
Military analyst Aleksandar Radić claims that Serbia's security system has had a "sonic cannon" for several years.
Radić assessed that the story of the sonic cannon is now a secret that is being kept strictly and that nothing will be allowed to leak, because any evidence of the existence of such a device in Serbia would seriously compromise the government.
"Foreigners have changed their attitude, many foreign television stations are reporting on it. Now it sounds very bad that a government treats its citizens like that. And the solution to crisis management is to claim that nothing happened," Radić told N1.
Predrag Petrović from the Belgrade Center for Security Policy believes that Saturday was "a demonstration of great power and arrogance by the authorities, which is at the same time a reflection of great powerlessness."
"Vučić is facing protests that are not abating, but growing. Force always has two ends, and this demonstration of force has had a very negative impact, especially outside of Serbia. Now this damage must be repaired in some way - and the government does this every time by forming a case, a commission to 'collect evidence', while actually covering up the real truth," he told N1.
Before using any means of coercion against a group, an order should first be issued to the group to disperse. And only if they do not obey, then it is applied - but not against the crowd, but against those who are the source of the threat.
Of all the questions that are now being asked (whether it is a sound cannon, if so - who used it), Petrović says that the key is that this is not a tool that is on the list of permitted means of coercion.
"Even if it exists, the method of use is illegal, because before using any means of coercion against a group, an order must first be issued to that group to disperse. And only if they do not obey, is it used - but not against the crowd, but against those who are the source of the threat," he explained, adding that there are groups, such as children, on whom these means must not be used.
"If the Ministry of Interior did not use this tool to break up demonstrations, the fact that we have paramilitary or parapolice private actors in the country who can acquire or use such serious means of coercion is even more frightening," said Petrović.
The Green Left Front (ZLF) party announced yesterday that it had addressed all representatives of the international community in Serbia and pointed out to them the use of "weapons of mass effect, a sound cannon" during Saturday's protest, which they consider "a crime by the regime against its own people."
"Weapons were used without any legal framework, demonstrating the authorities' willingness to violate basic human rights and use repressive methods beyond all legal norms, bearing in mind the potential for mass casualties," the ZLF said in a letter.
The Green-Left Front also pointed out to international representatives all other types of pressure that, as they say, "the regime used against citizens", such as "a counter-rally in which criminals and thugs participated", the cancellation of public transport, and "media and physical attacks" on the organizers.
The European Commission has seen reports of the alleged use of a sound cannon or similar weapons against peaceful protesters in Serbia and calls on the authorities to fully investigate such allegations, said spokesman Guillaume Mercier.
"We have seen reports and allegations of the use of such equipment. We expect a prompt, transparent and credible investigation into these allegations and recall that under EU Human Rights Law, authorities must protect all protest participants from harm and violence," Mercier said.
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