Following a decision by the Court of Appeals in Novi Sad, which ruled to place three activists from the Movement of Free Citizens and the organization Stav under house arrest (without visitation rights or internet access), and returned the cases of the remaining three to the Higher Court, the court confirmed the extension of detention with reasoning similar to its prior ruling.
The lawyers of the three activists plan to file appeals against this decision again.
In the meantime, the student blockade of the court continues as they demand that all the activists be released from detention.
Pressure on the Judiciary?
After the three released activists, Marija Vasić, Lado Jovović and Lazar Dinić, were placed under house arrest, state officials reacted strongly. President Aleksandar Vučić stated that there is “no country in the world” where someone accused of such a serious crime would be released after just two months in detention. For context, twelve activists – six of whom were in custody and six are abroad – have been charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order of Serbia.
“There will be no normal life until law and justice return to Serbia. You forced us into this fight for law and justice with your banditry, hooliganism, and violence everywhere. Now, law and justice will be fully restored in Serbia,” said President Vučić in response to the decision to place Vasić, Jovović, and Dinić under house arrest.
Speaking on the pro-government television channel and media outlet Informer, Vučić emphasized that prosecutors and judges who support “banditry, hooliganism, illegal behavior, and injustice” will not be tolerated, but only those who have “honor and integrity” and who will defend the state of Serbia.
Miloš Vučević, President of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), responded to the Court of Appeals’ decision by posting on X that SNS would call on its members, sympathizers, and citizens to block the court in Novi Sad to demand the release of four SNS activists who have been detained for four months. President Vučić supported this idea.
Four SNS activists have been in custody since January after an incident outside the party’s office on Liberation Boulevard in Novi Sad, where they have been accused of attacking a female student whose jaw was broken. They are suspected of assaulting two students in total, one of whom sustained serious injuries. Following the incident, Vučević resigned as Prime Minister.
“They won’t be able to get through – not the police, nor anyone else – until they make a decision to release these individuals, and then we’ll see what comes next,” Vučić told Informer TV.
Everyone Gets Emotional Sometimes
After public backlash over perceived pressure on the independent judiciary – which many said was unacceptable for public officials and the office of the President – Vučić said he reacted angrily because he is “only human.”
“They could say I was angry or furious. It wouldn’t be further from the truth. Honestly, I think any honorable person would feel that way. I think any normal person in this country would feel that way. For a long time now, not just since yesterday, everything here has been turned upside down. Apparently, we’re supposed to admire students who don’t study or work, and condemn, lynch, and beat those who do,” Vučić told pro-government Pink TV.
Students and citizens are still blockading the Higher Court building in Novi Sad in protest of the extended detention of the three activists. Meanwhile, it has emerged that one of them, Davor Stefanović, was beaten in the District Prison and has two nasal fractures. Civil society organizations have called for a response from the Ombudsman who stated that media reports about Stefanović’s beating are false.
According to the media outlet N1, an official statement from the Directorate said that on Saturday, May 17, during a morning walk, another detainee insulted and hit D.S. in the face:
“Security staff immediately separated them and escorted D.S. to the prison infirmary. Our doctor ordered a full diagnostic check-up at the Emergency Center of the Vojvodina Clinical Hospital. D.S. was returned to the prison after the exams because doctors found no need for further hospitalization, and we acted accordingly,” the statement said.
I.M., A.M.
