Sound cannon and political games: the role of the FBI and FSB in the investigation

Regime leaders in Belgrade claim that invitations have already been sent to the American and Russian security services, and their arrival in Serbia should follow in the next few days. The state claims that it wants a transparent investigation with the help of foreign actors, who, according to them, should confirm that no sound weapons were used during the aforementioned protest.

On the other hand, some members of the opposition are advocating that the investigation be conducted not by foreign security services, but by the UN and the OSCE. According to initial reactions, the state has nothing against their participation either.

FBI and FSB investigation – evidence of institutional collapse

The authorities' call is purely propaganda-motivated, military-political commentator Aleksandar Radić told DW. He sees it as yet another attempt to buy time.

"The incident of March 15th is very serious and it dramatically undermines trust in the Serbian authorities. Something happened that cannot be denied and they now need some way out and crisis management. However, I think that any interference from outside is not necessary and that this is a problem that must be solved within Serbia. Because it is clear that the nation has divided and there are those who believe that nothing happened, but also those who believe that the authorities attacked their people at a moment when they were paying tribute to the victims in silence," says Radić.

Political analyst Dragomir Andjelković believes that these calls to foreign security services are "a direct admission that all institutions in Serbia have collapsed."

"This is Aleksandar Vučić's sole fault. It is terrible when citizens do not trust the police, the judiciary, the Church, or those institutions that should have some credibility. In this situation of internal distrust, Vučić is trying to buy it from some foreign institutions that are considered serious, whatever they think of them. That is why he is proposing to involve the FBI and FSB for what our institutions could and should have already investigated and given their verdict," believes Andjelković.

Doubt all government claims

The response of the invited parties is still unknown and it is currently unknown whether they will accept the invitation and come to Serbia. The only information available to the Serbian public are statements by Serbian officials claiming that they are coming, but these allegations are of course impossible to verify.

Aleksandar Radić still believes that it is "absurd that any foreign security service would be dealing with this in Serbia and conducting an investigation."

"It is absurd to expect them to give any kind of answer. Because it is obvious that the state authorities possessed devices that they claimed they did not possess, and this raises even wider doubts about the credibility of any further statements. The Genasys devices were shown under public pressure and we can now rightly ask the question: how do we know that you do not have any Russian or Chinese devices, considering that Aleksandar Vulin boasted that Russia is helping Serbia in the fight against the color revolution," Radić notes.

This fact, according to Radić, also raises the question of impartiality, in this case the FSB - "and can we now expect that service to be objective in its analysis? It is unacceptable for a service, which has already taken such a position in Serbian internal politics, to be some kind of arbitrator, if we know that they already have the gratitude of the Serbian government," our interlocutor draws attention.

FSB – an impartial collaborator of the authorities?

The public gratitude of Aleksandar Vulin, the deputy prime minister in the technical mandate, to the Russian services for their assistance in the fight against the "colored revolution", for Dragomir Andjelković is proof that "Vučić may find it easier to market all this with the Russian side. But we must bear in mind that a similar case may occur with Trump and the FBI, because the American president is also showing himself to be a political trader, and is showing interest in some business in Serbia."

When it comes to Russia's support for the fight against the "colored revolution", which Vulin refers to, Andjelković emphasizes that, "if we analyze the Russian media, most of them laugh at stories about the colored revolution. Even in that media sphere, which is heavily influenced by the authorities there, the story of the colored revolution does not dominate," Andjelković says.

What exactly could the FBI and FSB possibly be investigating in Serbia? And is there anything there that would have to be investigated on site that couldn't be investigated remotely? There are recordings and statements from participants, but given that sonic weapons leave no physical traces, perhaps that's why the authorities decided to stretch the whole story a little more by pretending to support transparency around the entire case.

Political stance instead of facts

Aleksandar Radić also notes that "there are recordings and statements that are publicly available and the aforementioned services cannot obtain anything new beyond that. Admittedly, there are recordings from state cameras, which have been quite controversial, because they use Chinese facial detection software, but even they are not very helpful, because you do not have material evidence when you use sound waves. But, as has already been noted, we have interested parties here and it is possible to get some conclusion based on a political stance, and not based on facts," Radić states.

Dragomir Andjelković claims that "the FBI and FSB cannot analyze anything here, except to participate in a deception aimed at imposing on the Serbian public that what was evidently done was not done here. This weapon is designed in such a way that its use is difficult to prove. That is why Aleksandar Vučić decided on something that seems perfidious, and is difficult to prove," Andjelković tells DW.

(Un)controlled paramilitary

Radić points out that the whole story completely sidesteps the issue of paramilitary groups in Serbia, which, he believes, is a top-notch security problem in Serbia. According to him, "the question now is whether perhaps - let's call it conditionally - some paramilitary group used a sound cannon. Officials claim that it wasn't them. If it wasn't them, who did? Paramilitary groups were certainly visible on March 15, they had their own organization and insignia. In the recent past, we had the Banjska case, which showed that there are such groups that the state tolerates. Unfortunately, in every country where that red line is crossed and paramilitary organization is allowed, with the marginalization of state security organs, they end up turning against their own population," Aleksandar Radić concluded for DW.