Lawyer Rodoljub Šabić told Mašina that this trend, as well as the government’s overall response to protests, shows that repression and intimidation are at the heart of the government’s response.
“The data of almost 1,000 people being detained without any proportionate number of court decisions inevitably points to illegitimate motives behind the authorities’ actions,” Šabić argued.
He added that the extremely problematic use of explosives and chemical agents, along with numerous other violations of the Police Law and the Criminal Procedure Code, including excessive force and even torture, all of which usually go without any response from the Internal Control Sector, the prosecution, or independent human rights bodies further confirms this.
“Release them ALL!” publishes database
The initiative “Release them ALL!” compiled a publicly accessible database to be publicly in order to inform and mobilize citizens in the struggle to free all detainees. Its next objective is to submit formal requests for access to information of public importance to all police departments and prisons in Serbia.
Based on the data they currently have, the initiative highlights patterns of systematic repression, abuse, the politicization of the police and judiciary, and the near total absence of the rule of law.
“It is striking how openly the political instrumentalization of the police and judiciary functions. Laws are selectively interpreted, prosecutors classify acts to fit propaganda campaigns regardless of legal standards or evidence, and the police seem more than willing to violently enforce directives coming from the top of government,” the initiative stated.
The degree to which the police and judiciary behave in alignment with the interests of those in power is clear from their actions, which always mirror the tactics authorities are pursuing at the moment, according to the initiative.
They noted significantly fewer arrests in January and February, precisely when the “fight against corruption” and the arrests of officials began. They consider this to be an obvious attempt to avoid “provocation” during a period of rapid growth in the movement.
“After March 15, the largest protest in Serbia’s history, we saw an aggressive shift in tactics and clear cooperation between the political leadership, propaganda outlets, the police, and the judiciary in attempts to incite unrest and feed the narrative of a ‘color revolution,’ all while destroying the lives of dozens of families, some of whom have been waiting more than six months for their loved ones’ to be released,” the initiative stated.
“Particularly concerning are the so-called ‘informative talks,’ detentions in violation of legal procedures, attempts to deny detainees their rights, phone tapping, beatings, threats, abuse, and humiliation that leave lasting consequences on the lives of those ultimately proven innocent,” the initiative emphasized. They add that detention and house arrest are used to indefinitely remove the most active protestors without evidence or grounds in order to weaken the movement.
Meanwhile, all arrested members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party or their close associates have been released regardless of the circumstances, which, combined with other mechanisms, serves to send a clear message that they are above the law, while the rest of us can be imprisoned for months for words spoken, the initiative stressed.
The state will have to pay for all unlawful arrests and political persecution
The lawyer Ivan Ninić told Mašina: “This has now become a numbers game, and there is no longer any doubt that people are being arrested and detained solely as part of a strategy to suppress protests and as a kind of psychological warfare the regime is waging against the population,”
According to him, there are very few court cases and serious charges that would justify all the arrests so far. The government uses arrests to build a narrative about fighting “terrorists and extremists” supposedly trying to overthrow the state.
“Statistically speaking, there may be a negligible number of convictions, mostly based on plea agreements between defendants and prosecutors so the accused can quickly be released on probation. My impression is that the government, embodied in the President of the Republic, is using arrests to maximally mobilize the state’s repressive apparatus so that Vučić’s statements about having prevented and defeated a so-called ‘color revolution’ can be turned into political capital. At the end of this dark era, when all is said and done, the state will have to pay out of its own pocket for all unjustified arrests and the political persecution of activists, and that is truly the grim reality,” Ninić concluded.
“Paparazzi” police
None of the cases that officials pompously highlighted in the media to demonize the students and protestors have ended with a final court verdict, the initiative claims.
For example, the case of the student, Luka Mihajlović, who was beaten and tied to a hospital bed ended with an acquittal. This is only one of many instances showcasing an excessive use of force and deprivation of basic rights.
“This tells us that parts of the judiciary have no problem directly participating in these staged performances, but the fact that none of these cases has been ‘seen through to the end’ raises the question of whether this currently suits them or whether, hopefully, someone is preventing them,” the initiative elaborated.
The arrest of 18 people over the alleged attack on Miloš Pavlović, a government-backed counter protestor, shows that the police knowingly and actively participate in fabricated performances, the activists state.
The initiative’s statement reads: “The alleged attack was used to justify portraying protesting students as violent extremists and terrorists, only for the court to acquit 15 of them just two days later, while three received restraining orders, a very unusual punishment for supposed terrorists.”
This is neither the first nor the only time that state institutions have run a smear campaign in coordination with the authorities and tabloids and increasingly, the pro-government tabloid Informer practically announces arrests in advance, the initiative notes. “While compiling the database, we came across cases where only Informer had published detailed information about arrests,” they said.
In a particularly concerning development, yesterday a high-ranking member of the Serbian Progressive Party, Siniša Vučinić, stated on Informer TV that a prominent student activist would be killed as a conspiracy to whip up hatred against the police.
A.G.A.; A.M.
