Prosecutor Higher Public Prosecutor's Office (VJT) in Belgrade Miodrag Marković guesting on Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) stated that VJT does not yet know the identity students from the planum in January last year, where he was mentioned sound cannon. He added that a request to collect information was sent to the Service for Combating Terrorism so that four groups of persons could be processed after identity confirmation.
The first group consists of persons who participated in the plenum, the second group consists of those who coordinated the movement of the mass of gathered citizens, the third group consists of persons who published on social networks and the media claims about the sound cannon, and finally the fourth group - persons who responded to medical examinations after two or three days.
"When we discover the identities, everyone will be prosecuted, no one will get away," said Marković.
Simulation of the use of a sound cannon
According to Marković, the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office formed a case concerning injuries from the sound cannon, and the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office requested that the case be assigned to them.
Marković said that during the search of the Faculty of Philosophy on March 27, 2026, during the investigation into the death of a student, the documentation of the plenum of several faculties was temporarily confiscated, among which the minutes of January 22, 2025 were found.
Photo: FoNet/MUP of SerbiaSound cannon
He states that the minutes directly mention the sound cannon two months before the March 15 protest. According to his words, the events described there lead to the conclusion of a simulation of the use of a sound cannon.
Responding to the response of the students in the blockade that the minutes in question refer to the protest at Autokomanda, held at the end of January 2025, Marković said that this cannot be claimed with certainty.
Lawyer: The claims of thousands of "sound cannon" victims can be verified
We remind you that on March 15, 2025, it was organized in Belgrade at the invitation of students protest, where during 15 minutes of silence, according to the citizens, a sound broke through which caused the mass of people to separate and caused panic.
In the following days, accusations that a sound cannon was used were made public. The authorities denied that any of the above had happened, but it was revealed that the police were in possession of LRAD 450XL sound cannons. After the incident, information emerged that a large number of citizens consulted doctors for headaches, nausea and ringing in the ears.
Photo: Vladislav MilićProtest on March 15, 2025
Is RTS in violation?
The Bureau of Social Research (BIRODI) announced, based on the analysis of the RTS broadcast on the alleged organized preparation of a simulation of the use of a sound cannon, that there are grounds for suspicion that the public media service violated the Rulebook on the Protection of Human Rights in the Field of Media Services.
As stated, the broadcast content called into question the realization of citizens' right to truthful, complete, timely and diverse information, since the program was attended exclusively by interviewees who represent one interpretation of the event, according to which the story about the use of a sound cannon was a pre-organized political manipulation directed against the state.
Is VJT preparing new lawsuits against students for the alleged attempt to violently overthrow the constitutional order?
Bearing in mind that this is a topic that is the subject of a serious social and political dispute, RTS was obliged to enable the public to hear the other side or to clearly announce when it will be given space to answer, said BIRODI.
The analysis also showed a possible violation of provisions that protect human dignity.
During the show, the students in the blockade were described with terms such as "balavurdi", "illiterate", "limited social capacity" and "cannon fodder". Such a way of representing a social group is not in accordance with the obligation to respect the dignity of the person guaranteed by the Rulebook, it was pointed out in the announcement.
Photo: TimeRTS board
Parts of the show that can encourage intolerance towards citizens because of their political beliefs were also listed as particularly problematic. The presentation of students and protest participants as instruments of foreign services, organizers of civil war and enemies of the state contributes to their social stigmatization and deepening of political divisions in society, said BIRODI.
"Hook" file
The Bureau cited the fact that individual persons and groups during the show were practically presented as perpetrators of serious crimes before the end of any court proceedings. This calls into question the respect for the principle of the presumption of innocence, which is one of the basic human rights protected by both domestic and international law.
Stating that the public media service must not be a platform for political disqualification and stigmatization of citizens, but a space for professional, impartial and pluralistic public information, BIRODI called on the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media to ex officio investigate whether RTS violated the provisions of the Rulebook on the Protection of Human Rights in the Field of Media Services.
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time andor by monthly donation. The time for it is now!
