Serbia’s ongoing protests face state repression, with activists facing arrests and detention under questionable legal pretexts.
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Protests in Serbia have led authorities to continue suppressing dissent through pre-trial detention. Activists, opposition members, students, and journalists have been detained under charges of endangering state security, which critics compare to repression tactics used in Belarus and Russia. The text highlights the political nature of these arrests, noting that both the government and protesters are dissatisfied with the judiciary’s handling of cases. Recent arrests, such as those on March 14th, involved activists detained over alleged planning for a protest. Concerns were raised regarding the evidence used, including a video allegedly obtained without proper judicial authorization. The article details the subsequent ordeal of the arrested activists, including inhumane detention conditions. Following public pressure and a statement of concern from the European Commission, several activists, including Marija Vasić, were eventually granted house arrest. The text concludes by describing the pattern of politically motivated prosecutions in Serbia, where authorities frequently use pre-trial detention to intimidate activists, often without sufficient evidence.
