Prosecution of Protesters

Alongside physical violence, Serbia's authorities have used the criminal justice system as a tool against protest participants - filing charges, ordering detentions, and initiating proceedings in ways that track political exposure rather than genuine legal grounds. Charges have been dropped, reduced, or quietly abandoned in many cases, but the process itself has served its purpose: creating a chilling effect on civic mobilization. This section documents who was prosecuted, on what basis, and what the cases reveal about the use of prosecutorial power in Serbia.

April

"However, at the moment when young people begin to understand something in a completely serious way, when someone is able to sell them an anarchist ideology - you know, they are not aware that there, the police have the right to beat them and even kill them." Minister of Information and Telecommunication Boris Bratina made this statement on Tanjug TV on April 4th, which is celebrated in Serbia as Student's Day, honoring Željko Marinović, a student who was killed in the student protests in 1936.

The entry of members of the Criminal Police Directorate (UKP) into the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade is a precedent that raises serious constitutional and criminal procedural questions, and calls into doubt respect for the autonomy of universities guaranteed by the Constitution.

July 2025

In response to the arrests that followed, students called for new protests and road blockades. Multiple locations in Belgrade, as well as in towns across Serbia, were blocked. During the evening and night of July 2nd , police intervened at several locations in Belgrade where students and citizens had organised blockades. In front of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, the gendarmerie intervened. As seen in videos posted on social media, members of the unit reached the very doors of the Faculty of Law.

Update

Constitutionally guaranteed autonomy of the university under threat

Brief

Escalation of repression and treatment of detainees during August protests

From a warning shot fired by an army officer to reports of abusive treatment of detained protesters,...

Update

Vučić: “Freedom for the heroes, prison for blockader terrorists”

Senior officials are portraying ruling party activists accused of beating students as “heroes,” while framing protest movements and their supporters as terrorists.

Update

Three activists from Novi Sad released from detention after two months

The court has not yet made a final decision regarding the detention of Mladen Cvijetić, Srđan Đurić, and Davor Stefanović, whose cases will now be reassessed.

Update

Student detained for six hours at SNS rally, phone hacked by security services

Ten days after BIRN and Amnesty International published findings on BIA's use of Cellebrite and NoviSpy against activists, a 23-year-old student was detained at the Sava Center during an SNS rally, held for six hours without access to a lawyer, and had his phone unlocked and data extracted without a court order.

Update

Administration for the prevention of money laundering used again to target civil society activists

Confidential documents obtained by Radar show that Serbia's Administration for the prevention of money laundering ordered banks to hand over detailed financial data on five civil society activists. The move repeats a near-identical abuse from 2019 and comes as student protests continue to grow across the country.

Update

Student demands

At the end of November 2024, following the intensification of protests and the escalation of violence against students and demonstrators, students formulated four demands for ending the blockade of faculties and the protests.