Serbian officials, police deny using sonic weapon on anti-government protesters

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 2:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Serbian officials denied Sunday that the country's information forces utilized a military-grade sonic limb to disperse and scare protesters astatine a immense anti-government rally successful the capital.

Opposition officials and Serbian rights groups claimed that the wide banned acoustic limb that emits a targeted beam to temporarily incapacitate radical was utilized during the protestation Saturday. They accidental they volition record charges with the European Court of Human Rights and home courts against those who ordered the attack.

Serbia has not denied that it has the acoustic instrumentality successful its arsenal.

At slightest 100,000 radical descended connected Belgrade connected Saturday for a wide rally seen arsenic a culmination of months-long protests against Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.

The rally was portion of a nationwide anti-corruption question that erupted aft a factual canopy collapsed astatine a bid presumption successful Serbia's northbound successful November, sidesplitting 15 people.

Almost regular demonstrations that started successful effect to the calamity person shaken Vucic's decade-long steadfast grip connected powerfulness successful Serbia wherever galore blasted the clang connected rampant authorities corruption, negligence and disrespect of operation information regulations, demanding accountability for the victims.

Footage from the rally amusement radical lasting during 15 minutes of soundlessness for the obstruction presumption catastrophe portion abruptly experiencing a whooshing dependable that instantly triggered panic and a little stampede.

An Associated Press lensman astatine the country said radical started scrambling for cover, leaving the mediate of the downtown thoroughfare astir bare arsenic they started falling implicit each other.

Those exposed to the limb acquisition crisp receptor pain, disorientation and panic, subject experts say. Prolonged vulnerability tin origin eardrum ruptures and irreversible proceeding damage.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, a non-governmental organization, condemned "the unlawful and inhumane deployment of prohibited weapons, specified arsenic acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters."

"This enactment represents a blatant show of unit and an effort to incite chaos, aiming to delegitimize protests and criminalize peaceful citizens," the radical said.

Serbian constabulary and the defence ministry denied that the amerciable limb was used.

The Serbian president connected Sunday urged judicial authorities to respond to the accusation "that sonic cannons were utilized during the protests," the authorities RTS broadcaster reported.

"I americium asking the ministry of justness and the prosecutor's bureau to react, either to prosecute those who utilized it, and we cognize they didn't but let's check," Vucic said. "Let determination beryllium a proceeding but past they should besides prosecute those who went nationalist with specified a notorious lie."

Belgrade's exigency infirmary has denied reports that galore radical sought assistance aft the incidental and urged ineligible enactment against those who "spread untrue information."