I
AN
"Like an impending danger and an invisible hurricane. A danger that you had to run away from at the same second, anywhere." This is how one of the eyewitnesses describes the matter events from Ulica Kralja Milana which connects Terazije and Slavija.
He stood that March 15 at 19:11, silent and pensive, right next to the glazed wall of the Yugoslav Drama Theater. Around him, thousands of people silently remember the victims who were crushed by the canopy of the Railway Station in Novi Sad. The epicenter of the meeting was a little further away, on the giant Slavija roundabout, but it was too small for about three hundred thousand people, for the largest meeting in the history of Serbia. The people spread out through the surrounding streets, all the way to the Assembly.
If there hadn't been so many people, if there hadn't been recordings, probably no one would have ever talked about what happened then. Because he would be afraid of being declared insane.
"The sound crossed in a second." over us. I experienced something like that for the first time to produced a sense of terror," says one woman who was standing nearby. Similar stories are being told. "Vreme" collected about two hundred testimonies of the still inexplicable event. Mystery weapon strike or mass panic? Or a bit of both?
But let's go in order.
Epicenter of 450 meters
At 19:XNUMX p.m., fifteen minutes of silence began for the fifteen victims of the canopy - the number rose to sixteen a day later. Little was heard. The rustling of raincoats, a drone filming from the air, sometimes a cough. In the distance, especially from Pionirski Park, gunshots and gunfire. A few vuvuzelas. But mostly quiet.
At exactly 19:11, people felt something they described differently, even if they were standing next to each other. It's as if the plane flies two meters above the heads. Or that an invisible bus rushes down the street. Some heard a "whoosh" or a whoosh, a sound familiar from Formula 1 or that of an ominously approaching cruise missile.
"Out of nowhere, from the direction of Terazi, something echoed down the street, which I thought was a car crashing into a crowd. To me, it sounded like someone putting the gas to the floor, while the tires were burning the asphalt. My partner, on the other hand, heard a plane in low flight," described "Vremena" journalist Milica Tošić, who was next to the Presidency in Kralja Milan.
A race and chaos ensued. "I wasn't scared, more confused and curious. How could there be such a terrible sound echoing down the street without a vehicle? Some started running in the direction the sound came from, furious, cursing everything they could think of. They were running as if ready to attack, ready to fight."
Many report the trampling of thousands of horses - which is perhaps the easiest to explain, because people fled en masse from the very road of Ulica Kralja Milana to the sidewalks and curbs. There are about twenty recordings, eight of which come from surveillance cameras - stable and calm, but without sound. The best quality recordings were published by the tabloids, but the question is how much they support the government's thesis that, as it were, nothing but mass panic happened.
Because the videos show how the corridor from the direction of Terazija towards Slavija is opening at an incredible speed. In a few seconds, the road was almost empty. Hundreds of people have since described the experience as best they can, aware that it sounds strange - an "evil air" wafted through, uncannily. One by one from above. According to others, at the height of the legs.
illustration: miljana smikićDesign: Miljana Smikić
"Vreme" mapped the people who contacted us and sent the exact location, which can be seen on our map. There is a striking concentration between the intersection of Kralj Milan and Knez Miloš ("London") and Cvetni trg. It is the epicenter with a length of 450 meters.
This means that, whatever happened, it went down King Milan Street itself. No one saw anything, only heard or felt it. Admittedly, a couple of witnesses who in a slow moment were facing the opposite direction - that is, not towards Slavia but towards Terazije - claim that raised dust came into their faces.
Where exactly did it come from? Those from Slavija say - from Cvetni trg. Those from Cvetni trg - from a Belgrade woman. Those near Beograđanka - from the direction of Andrić's crown. Those near Andrić's wreath - from Terazi. That's where the testimonies are thinned out.
Group of non-governmental organizations she collected and processed more than three thousand testimonies of people who found themselves in Ulica kralja Milana. The largest number of testimonies were shared by those who were in the part of the street from Beograđanka to JDP.5
In the video, which was taken near London, it is seen that the mass splits in seconds and prematurely.
According to testimonies, the dividing line is the Old Palace. Those who are closer to Terazije - fled to the opposite side from those who are closer to Slavia. The authorities use this fact to claim that the source of all the fuss actually the running of student guards down Dragoslav Jovanovića Street, right next to the Old Palace.
No one testified about anything concrete, so it is not possible to determine the exact place from where it started. No one in the "line of fire" saw a device that could be a sound cannon or other weapon. But there are many theories.
Many witnesses and scientists say that it had to be something. The prosecutor's office is weakly investigating the case and seems to be amnestying the state. While officials have become entangled in the lie about sound cannons (LRAD), the case has the powder to further ignite protests. Did someone fire a sonic or air cannon into the crowd, turning people into guinea pigs?
II
HEALTH CARD
At first, the consequences of the stampede were visible. When the crowd fled from the middle of the road, many fell over each other, breaking their heads and peeling their knees. One broken finger and one potentially broken ankle were reported to the "Vremena" editorial office.
Others wrote about headaches, nausea, dizziness, ringing in the ears. On social networks - where it is difficult to distinguish the truth from rumors - there was talk about the problems of heart patients with pacemakers, but no one has confirmed it yet.
The University Clinical Center denied that on the day of the protest, it treated dozens of citizens with ailments that could be caused by "the use of some kind of sound cannon". But, he added that "all of them" had been diagnosed and that "none of them had the kind of complaints that individuals irresponsibly state."
Two days after the protest, "Vremen" reporters in the Clinical Center they didn't find it crowded. But the Minister of Health, Zlatibor Lončar, did, who, getting into the car, ironically answered our question about whether people with the described complaints were calling: "Can't you see how crowded it is?"
According to Lončar, there were neither hot nor authentic patients with fainting and nausea. "Did you see someone grabbing their ears, which is characteristic, or vomiting? No one did that. Let the investigation determine, but there was none," Lončar said. Moreover, he claims that some people later came forward "on orders" to lie about their symptoms.
The emergency center and the Ministry of Health ignored requests from "Vremen" about the number of admissions in the days after the protests.
One source, a doctor at the "Dragiša Mišović" hospital, claims that after the protest, about thirty people called and were referred to an ENT specialist.
Several people sent "Vremen" medical reports. On one, it is stated that "the patient comes for an examination due to pressure and discomfort in the ears, nausea, dizziness and headache. The complaints occurred last night after the 'sound shock' that happened on the street in Belgrade during the '15 minutes of silence'." But the doctors found nothing.
From one group of Novi Sad residents, four of them went to the doctor on duty, and three were sent to the hospital for examination by an otolaryngologist. They were diagnosed with W42 – exposure to noise.
Anxiety
Most of the people who contacted the editorial office of "Vremena" say that it had no visible consequences, except for anxiety. The testimony of Staša Vasiljević, who was with her family at the corner of Resavska and Kralja Milan, is dramatic. Her younger sister walked from Loznica to the protest, was tired and sat down on the sidewalk. When the panic started, people trampled her.
"When everyone came to their senses and when we lifted her to her feet, she was weak and disoriented. She just cried quietly and begged us to take her home. Her body was flabby, and her eyes were in disbelief. We made our way through the crowd and she fainted three times," says Staša.
In the video that was taken at the foot of Beograđanka, you can see how many people suddenly turned in the direction of the noise.
The nurse didn't hear until she calmed down, she didn't see for a while. She felt like throwing up, but she didn't have the strength to say it. Staša also went to the Zemun hospital because of a headache, and she claims that she saw corridors full of people who had experienced the same thing.
"I spent the whole night in tears because I couldn't calm down because of the nightmares." I am afraid that we will deal with the physical consequences, and the psychological trauma will stay with us forever. "I get scared when I think that I have to go outside," she adds.
And some non-governmental organizations collect testimonies. About 11 people contacted the A4.000 organization, but they have not yet fully analyzed the data.
That day was otherwise noisy, and to it caused panic in King Milan. It is difficult to distinguish what is a symptom of what, especially since the health authorities are not cooperating. Prolonged exposure to sonic weapons is known to cause hearing loss. Shorter can cause disorientation, nausea, migraines and anxiety disorders.
But the roar did not come alone. He had companions in black hoods.
III
DIVERSION
The day smelled of trouble since two hundred people in black paraded through town in the morning. Some masked, most apparently in training. After the city march, the police brigade allowed them to Pionirski Park - otherwise dangerous with fences, tractors and a canal.
Čedomir Jovanović said on TV Tanjug that former handball player Vladimir Mandić brought 200 armed members of Atlas Security to the Belgrade City Assembly.³
It turns out they weren't sloppy there. During the silence, a few minutes before the crucial moment at 19:11, a street fight started. And that was not the only place.
Black hoodies
Around 16:XNUMX p.m., the students announced that, due to the tension at the Assembly, the central meeting had been moved to Slavia. One warden told "Vreme" that it happened on the advice of military veterans who helped the wardens. However, not everyone heeded the call. Many who had walked for hours from New Belgrade came to the Assembly and asked in confusion what was happening.
Around 17:XNUMX p.m., in the area near the tractors, right next to Dragoslav Jovanovića Street, some of the demonstrators climbed onto the tractors, some of them managed to turn them on and then hit the gas. The road was soaked with oil from other tractors, someone was lighting a torch. It could have exploded to hell.
By 18:30 p.m., the veterans and orderlies seemed to have established a sort of buffer zone. They fenced off the approach to the Assembly with red tape and a living wall, and only journalists were allowed there. The veterans left at 18:45 because it seemed that the job was done - that people were heading towards Slavia en masse.
Photo: TimeMilitary veterans and security guards created a buffer zone near the Assembly at around 18:30
"Come on people, two more hours and we'll be done," the guards said to each other during a short meeting at the Assembly at around 19 p.m. They were still thinking of staying there. But the matter escalated. Boys in hoodies - described by some as young fans - threw bottles at the police and Pioneer Park, and a fight broke out. Whether those guys are the same team as those who marched to the park in the morning, the popular Ćaciland, has not been clarified for now. Several witnesses say that those from Pionirski Park "returned fire".
Photo: TimeCall for the guards to stand down
At 19:03 p.m., a security guard called the others over a megaphone to take cover and not to respond to provocations. A few minutes later, at 19:06, the guards took off their vests and said that it was no longer their protest. As one told us, the entire sector of the rangers around Pionirski Park "fell in just a few minutes". "A shock bomb fell in front of my friend, and then a man came up to me and brought a big bottle of wine which they also threw. It can really hurt. I was shaking," he says.
Photo: Time19.11 near Pionirski Park and the Assembly
Dragoslav Jovanovica Street
This is how the alley connecting the plateau in front of the Assembly and Kralja Milana Street gained unusual importance. Because, Dragoslav Jovanovića Street the guards started to run away, taking off their fluorescent vests.
"Increasingly, loud murmurs, cheering, shouting, shouts, explosions were heard from the other side of the Old Palace and in Pionirski Park," says a citizen who was in Kralja Milana, right near Dragoslav Jovanović Street, in a moment of silence. "I was nervous about it and looked at the people around. Then there was a loud explosion from the other side, like a bomb had gone off."
Photo: TimeRiots near Dragoslav Jovanović Street
In Kralja Milan, everything was still normal, and people, he adds, were silent and kept their phones in the air. Then from Dragoslav Jovanović came a mob, orderlies, a rush... "People started screaming and running in all directions," says an eyewitness.
At least five more people mentioned in their statements to "Vremen" that, a few minutes before the end of delivering mail to the victims, they heard cannon shots, firecrackers or saw flares from the direction of Pionirski Park.
According to the "state version", which the BIA served to the tabloids along with surveillance camera footage, it was precisely the fleeing security guard down Dragoslav Jovanovića Street that caused mass panic in Kralja Milan. According to them, the first video is crucial - it shows the student guards hurrying towards Kralj Milan. And then how people move away from there, sensing danger.
This is confirmed by one of the guards. "But, that the run of ten policemen stuck the whole of Kralj Milan to the walls? Give it to me, please. I can't believe that they will attribute it to us - that we destroyed the whole street," adds the student. "It's completely insane."
Attacks from construction sites
A moment after the bang - the panic has not completely subsided yet - cannon shots were fired and from another location, from the construction site King's Circle Residence in Kralja Milan, closer to Slavia.
"Nobody knew what happened and that was the worst. It felt like some trucks had started to drive and started shooting at people," says one witness. "Then we realized that they were not shooting, but were throwing firecrackers at us from the surrounding buildings. The silhouettes of people stationed in the unfinished building were clearly visible."
This was confirmed by more witnesses, and the silhouettes can also be seen in several videos taken by citizens. The men in black were on several other buildings, as shown on our map.
The construction site from which it was "bombed" is a luxury complex under development, the investor of which is a company majority-owned by former football player Dejan Stanković, while the contractor is the company "Teka Gradnja". The building is surrounded by high panels and has surveillance cameras.
The "Vremena" reporter there tried to find out whether an investigation had been initiated into the incident. At the construction site, the people from "Tek gradne" promised that the director would call us, giving the impression that they already knew what it was about. But the director did not come to answer our questions.
Photo: TimeThe construction site from which provocateurs threw firecrackers and cannon shots
Three white vans
Among the crazy occurrences of that day are three white vans without license plates, parked right in front of the Presidency in Kralja Milana. They appeared that morning, and were removed only days later, as "Vreme" wrote about them.
In the photos, you can see the faint remnants of the inscriptions on the vans - the logo of the French chain of stores E. Leclerc, which has the nearest market - in Slovenia.
Photo: Private archiveThree white vans during the March 15 protest
The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not answer "Vremen"'s questions about how it is possible for vehicles without license plates to be parked in such a sensitive location and what they are for. "Vremena" sources say that the MUP never removes license plates. Not even if the police are on an undercover mission - then they drive cars with ordinary license plates.
However, by amending the decree just a few days before the protest (March 12), the government introduced the possibility for the intervention unit of the police to drive passenger cars and many other vehicles, and in the amendments there is a gray legal zone - without police markings.
Photo: TimeThree white vans in the days after the protest
"The state, which normally drugs the legal system with decrees since 2020 and the introduction of the state of emergency, potentially leaves the possibility for off-road vehicles to be without any plates," explains an expert on safety legislation for "Vreme".
IV
PANIC THEORY
Here we are already getting into theories. That there was panic is not just a theory, but a fact. But could the panic have given birth to itself? To make it happen just for her sake, without any sonic or similar weapons ?
Psychologist Žarko Trebješanin says that what happened to him resembles "a sound like a missile flying towards you, something hissing through the air and in such situations people react instinctively".
"People have only a few innate instinctive reactions, so, for example, when an object approaches you at an extraordinary speed, you have the need to run away. When such a wave starts, you cannot help yourself, because such a reaction is built into you, the pattern of such behavior is programmed and it is life-saving in some situations," he tells "Vreme".
The panic effect was short-lived. That, says Trebješanin, is surprising because usually when the mass starts, it continues to move and move. That's how people get killed in a stampede because someone gets stuck in a sandwich, someone stumbles and gets run over. Here composure won.
Many eyewitnesses told us that in a moment of flight, they heard many people from the side - mostly those who were not on the roadway - shouting "slow down" and "don't panic".
Trebješanin says that people also react to people. When you see someone running away, run away too. "That behavior is known in social psychology. Of course, it doesn't always have to be good. But they are shortcuts, we don't have time to think and then we follow a short path, it takes a little time from signal to motor action. You can't sit and put your finger on your forehead to think."
Laws of physics
Even physics cannot explain such a flight - from the street to the sidewalks - only by panic spreading from one place. Because then people would run away from that place to the opposite side, and not from the street to the sidewalk.
How is it wrote colleague Slobodan Bubnjević, otherwise a physicist, people with their neuroplasticity, acquired evolution and so much running away from predators, in this case recognize that danger is quickly moving in the middle of the street in the direction of Slavija.
That danger, given that it is invisible, can only be a mechanical wave, concludes Bubnjević - so sound or movement like wind.
Robert Oger, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who also deals with mass panic in his works, tells "Vreme" that the footage of the incident in Belgrade reminds him of the intrusion of a predator into a school of fish. "The reaction of the protesters to split up and run to two sides of the street suggests a localized threat perception that starts from the back and comes down the middle of the street. As with schooling fish, this could be due to each person's independent threat perception, or an instinctive response to the movement of those around them in a certain direction, which they imitate without noticing the threat themselves, or a combination of both causes," he says.
On the video that was made at the monument to Tsar Nicholas, it can be seen that people are trying to calm the situation, although they generally understand what "happened".
It's also perceived that the threat has passed, as people quickly return to the street, Auger says, and adventurers even start running to see what caused the threat. "There doesn't even seem to be any lingering fear of an additional threat, but rather curiosity as people think about it, possibly discussing what just happened. The video doesn't show any material threat, suggesting that the threat was invisible. Whether you call it mass panic or not is perhaps irrelevant. It appears to be a mass response to a spatially localized threat of short duration," he says.
V
TOP THEORY
It's hard to say who was the first to mention the sound cannon, but that was the only thing that was being talked about that same evening. Soon, the military expert Aleksandar Radić dared to tell N1 that this weapon was used at a peaceful protest, judging that it was a "brutal display of force" out of "hatred of one's own people".
As he later explained to "Vreme", he substantiated such claims with conversations with friends from abroad who used a sound cannon. He adds that it is also possible to tell based on the effects that people have experienced - from discomfort to anxiety. "It depends on the state of the organism, what will happen to it and how it will feel. It is a feeling that cannot be controlled, it is experienced individually and depends on the strength and duration of the signal," said Radić.
A sound cannon, or LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), is actually a powerful speaker with a directional tone. One of its purposes is to break up demonstrations. It used to be widely used in the United States, but has always been a subject of debate. In 2021, a federal appeals court ruled that it was unconstitutional to use this device so that it could cause serious injury to nonviolent protesters.
At the time, the use of LRADs was restricted in some states, and the New York City Police Department was the first to completely ban the use of LRAD's piercing tone for "deterrence" or "warning".
The basic sound produced by the LRAD is loud and shrill, like an alarm. However, the sound cannon also has a microphone and an mp3 player, so other sounds can be played through it. It looks like a large, flat plate or disc, usually mounted on a stand or vehicle. Some smaller models can be carried by hand, or in a backpack.
On the back of the cannon is a control panel with controls for volume, frequency and direction. The sound is emitted through the front part of the device in the form of a focused beam, which can reach up to several kilometers, but is drastic and dangerous to health in the first few tens of meters.
At demonstrations or other gatherings where the sound cannon has been used so far, people are seen covering their ears and running away due to the loud sound. The picture from Belgrade was different - the footage does not show people grabbing each other's ears, and the crowd separated at great speed.
No footage of its use that we have been able to find shows the effectiveness seen in Ulica Kralja Milana, where people scattered in seconds.
Music producer and sound expert Aleksandar Stanojković interviewed a man with a hidden identity, who is said to be a US military officer specializing in the use of LRADs. That interlocutor says that the scenes and sound from Belgrade remind him of sonic weapons.
"Some LRAD models go up to 162 decibels at a twenty hertz level. This sends out a pulse, which we call burst, and it can cause many problems from dizziness to depression. It can also disrupt electrical devices," he says, claiming that he tried the cannon on himself, although he didn't unscrewed at its strongest.
The one in Belgrade seems to him, he adds, like a powerful LRAD 2000X with a range of several kilometers or a similar model. If so, it could easily have been activated from a great distance and height.
It is not known that the Serbian security forces acquired that model. It is known that, during the time of Alexander Vulin as Minister of Police, they bought and overpaid for nine miniature LRAD 100X models that fit in a backpack, as well as seven pieces of LRAD 450XL - one of which was spotted on a jeep near the Serbian Parliament on the day of the big protest.
Čedomir Jovanović said that during the fifteen-minute silence, someone played the sound of a plane or a truck from the LRAD.³
There is a cannon – there is no cannon
Lawyer Božo Prelevic was the first to claim that Serbia has a sound cannon of the "Genesis" brand. Soon, "Vremena" sources from the police confirmed the acquisition of the device. From that moment, the wrapping of power in the kitchens begins.
On the evening of March 15, the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that it was not using illegal means, and President Aleksandar Vučić said that what happened did not resemble a sound cannon.
The following day, Police Minister Ivica Dacic repeated the MUP's assurance, and the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Army announced that they did not use a sound cannon "or other means not provided for by law."
But on March 18, Dacic said that the police still have "a stronger megaphone that is used for voice messages." On the same day, he confirms that it is a "LRAD 100X" sound cannon, acquired in 2021, but adds that the police do not use it.
BIA director Vladimir Orlić says that no one noticed the sound cannon on the streets on March 15.
The very next day, Dacic says that the police have sonic weapon systems, but that they are sitting in boxes in warehouses. He also adds that his earlier statement that the police do not have a sound cannon was "clumsy". "By that, it was meant that the MUP did not include this tool in its arsenal of coercive tools."
On the same day, and a day after the director of the BIA said that no one noticed the sound cannon on the streets on March 15, the vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Marinika Tepić, shows a photo of a Gendarmerie jeep outside the Serbian Parliament from the day of the protest.
The photo shows a device that looks like the Genesis LRAD 450XL sound cannon. She also showed a document according to which the state has nine LRAD 100X devices and seven LRAD 450XL devices.
As stated in the document, the cannons were acquired during Alexander Vulin's mandate as Minister of Police, through the state-owned "Jugoimport" and the private company "Romax-Trade". Sixteen sound cannons, reflectors and power connectors were paid for around RSD 81 million without a tender.
In the same year, the American federal state of New Hampshire purchased the sound cannons, which paid three to four times less to the manufacturer for the same devices than Serbia paid to the private Novi Sad company "Romax-Trade", Nova ekonomija announced.
By the way, in the draft law on the police from 2022, the authorities included the use of a sound cannon as a means of coercion. That draft was withdrawn due to the revolt of the professional public.
On the same day, Dacic told reporters showed a sound cannon, but this time he claimed that it was being prepared for use as a megaphone, but that it was not used that way either.
But BIRN reported that the Serbian police used a sound cannon at least once for an attack - against migrants in the suburb of Sombor in November 2023.
Five days after the protest in Belgrade, the company "Genesis" also advertised, claiming that the available footage does not indicate the use of an LRAD, but recalling the analyzes according to which a vortex cannon may have been used.
Dacic and others from the authorities ignored that second part of the statement and used the publication of "Genesis" as the "crown proof" that no weapons were used.
What exactly does Serbia have?
Between "we don't have a sound cannon", through "we have it, but we don't use it", and to "we only use it as a slightly stronger megaphone" only a few days passed. Although it remains unproven that this device was used on March 15, it is clear that at least one was mounted on the vehicle and in readiness.
That is why it is necessary to look at the devices that Serbia acquired from "Genesis" and their characteristics. The state bought nine weaker LRAD 100X models. It has a range of 600 meters, is small enough to fit in a backpack. It produces sound with a maximum volume of 137 decibels at a distance of one meter, which can cause permanent hearing damage.
Photo: Printscreen/GenasysLRAD 100X which Serbia has
LRAD 450XL - Serbia has seven pieces - it is a bulkier and more powerful device. It produces sound with a maximum volume of 143 decibels, and has a range of up to 1.700 meters.
Photo: Printscreen/GenasysLRAD 450XL which Serbia has
Romanian Chief Military Prosecutor Catalin Ranko Pitu spent six years investigating the December 1989 Romanian Revolution that led to the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
He is for Deutsche Welle said that the Romanian army then used a sound cannon on the demonstrators and not with high and shrill tones, but very low - like in Belgrade.
"During the rally, Romanian soldiers from a specialized unit for psychological warfare intervened on the sound system with a tape that emitted low frequencies, and this caused the disorganization of the rally," says Pitu.
Although technology has advanced a lot in 35 years, says Pete, the principle is the same. "In my opinion, what happened recently in Belgrade can be explained by the use of manipulation technology by exposing the masses to special sound waves."
Vortex cannon
Earshot, an organization that conducts audio-research for human rights and environmental protection, writes about the whirling cannon, the so-called vortex. Based on the analysis of the sound from Kralja Milana Street, they state that the sound impact coincides with a whirlwind cannon and that the recordings show that the source of the sound was located at least 700 meters from the place where it was recorded.
Many people therefore picked locations where such a cannon could be activated from a height. For example, the tenth floor of the Palace of Albania is exactly 764 meters as the crow flies from the place where, according to our research, the epicenter of the noise began.
The vortex cannon ejects air from the cylinder at a speed of about three hundred kilometers per hour – producing a howling noise at the source comparable to a jet engine – along with vortex rings that can be ionized.
Photo: Printscreen YouTube/TheBackyardScientist"Vortex" cannon
The theory of a vortex cannon, which ejects a powerful ring of air, was suggested by students of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in the short film "Twelfth Minute" about the events in Kralja Milan. They even graphically presented the cannon on the roof of the "Albania" Palace.
When "Vremena" asked about it, the authors of the film stated that they were guided by research, but that they are not responsible for the investigation or to claim anything.
The roof of "Albania" is interesting not only because from there there is a clear view all the way to Slavia and beyond, to the Church of Saint Sava, but also because the distance to the epicenter of the noise coincides with the calculation of the British organization Earshot. Their analysis of the roar from the footage suggests a match with the sound of a vortex cannon about 700 meters from the source.
Behind the marble walls of "Albania", the slightly confused older porters were alarmed at the arrival of the "Vremena" reporter, as if they already had orders for such cases. "We're going to have to deal with it if we let anyone in, everything has to be emailed first, then approval is obtained, and only then can you climb up," said one.
The palace is managed by the Deposit Insurance Agency, which has been unsuccessfully selling "Albania" for three years. The spokeswoman of the agency, Vera Morina, says that various journalists these days are asking to go up to the roof, but that they cannot do so for security reasons. When asked if we can go to another floor, he says that he has to see the tenants.
Anti-hail gun
A sound similar to the one heard in the recordings is also produced by modern anti-hail cannons. They shoot explosive waves of air, hurling up to a kilometer high. On the website of a domestic importer, it is written that the cannon can be activated from a distance of 500 meters by remote control, it takes one day to be installed, and it can be transported in trucks, trailers or semi-trailers - as well as by tractor, via an auxiliary carrier.
The problem with both devices is that they were never used for the purpose of breaking up demonstrations. Therefore, it is not possible to say with certainty how they act in a relatively narrow street surrounded by buildings, like a gorge, and how the crowd would react to them.
Photo: Printscreen Youtube/TRAILING doo - ANTI-GRADE CANNONAnti-hail gun
Theories continue to abound, but the clues are few. Let's say for the sake of the story that something was released down the drain. Or from a drone that flew high. Or that there were people in the crowd with small LRAD models in their backpacks.
Neil Corney, a researcher at the British Omega Foundation, has not seen anything like the one in King Milan in the three decades since he has been researching how police, armies and services around the world use various weapons, often banned, to hit people. How they are dispersed, tortured and killed.
"We have never seen an effect like this, that people take shelter in such a specific way, that the mass is separated in the middle of the road," Corney told Vreme. "Whatever was used or produced the noise - it resulted in mass panic with a high risk of serious injury or death from the stampede."
Although he can't relate the roar or the effects to any weapon he knows, he thinks that special effects occur when the crowd is quiet and thoughtful. Then she is vulnerable. "It is possible that the intention was to cause as strong a psychological impact as possible," concludes Corney.
VI
INVESTIGATION
It was claimed that two investigations were underway, and one of them was completed a month after the big protest. In addition to the case in the First Basic Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, the investigation was also carried out by operatives of the Russian FSB service.
The report of the Russian service was published on the BIA website on April 16, and it states that "based on the results obtained, a categorical conclusion can be made that the acoustic devices of the LRAD emitter type possessed by the police authorities of Serbia were not used during the protest."
The FSB report claims that "there are public indications of directed provocation, with the participation of a specially prepared group of persons and the use of smartphones to synchronize movements with an imitation of the effect of an acoustic cannon and also to block emergency services."
The FSB investigation was carried out in several stages, including: investigations of broadcasters in the field, investigation of the impact of broadcasters on "biological objects", i.e. dogs, analysis of audio and video recordings provided to the Russian service by the BIA, and assessment of the socio-psychological atmosphere among the participants in the protest.8
The American FBI in its response to "Vreme" says that it can neither confirm nor deny that it is participating in the investigation, although Serbian officials had previously pompously invited them as well.
The Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade states that it is continuing with the checks. "At the moment, data is being collected on persons who have received injuries or suffered hardships. The prosecution has also requested from the Protector of Citizens available information on the collected data on the critical event. In addition to the above, we are not able to state other facts at this stage," they stated in the answers to "Vremen".
They did not answer the question whether they take into account the map published by our editorial office, where, based on testimonies, the epicenter of the noise is located between the intersection of Ulica Kralja Milana and Knez Milos, and Cvetni trg. The map also shows the places of the accompanying diversions, that is, the simultaneous attack with cannon strikes on the citizens.
As reported by the portal nova.rs, the Prosecutor's Office later replied to them that "they will take statements from citizens who submitted their information through non-governmental organizations by April 3, who stated that they attended the event on March 15.03 and who have injury lists about the suffering they suffered."
As "Vreme" learns, there are several dozen citizens who gave information to non-governmental organizations, and explicitly agreed to give evidence to the prosecution as well.¹
A Vremena source from the First Prosecutor's Office says that the prosecutors were told "from above" to deal only with "how people panicked", excluding the possibility that any weapons were used.
On April 14, the Prosecutor's Office told Insider that in the next few days they will start questioning citizens who reported health problems after the protest, and that more than a hundred citizens have been identified who will give statements as part of the investigation.7
A group of NGOs from Serbia has submitted a criminal charge of terrorism against an NGO to the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime due to the suspicion that a dangerous weapon was used at the protest in Belgrade on March 15.
An international petition, signed by some Nobel laureates, was also launched to lead an independent investigation of the events from Kralj Milan. Several non-governmental organizations reported that they had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of the injured parties, so that court received the answers of the Serbian authorities on Monday (March 31). The deadline for the next submissions is April 8. In a response to Vreme, the European Court only confirms that it is "considering" the submitted request, but "cannot" provide more information at this time.
The European Court of Human Rights announced on April 30 that a temporary measure against Serbia had been adopted the day before.11
"Regarding the petitioners' request that the Court say that the state should prevent the use of sonic weapons or similar devices at future protests, the Court indicated to the Government that, until further notice, any use of sonic devices to control gathered citizens (except for communication purposes) must be prevented in the future," the statement reads.
As it is added, the Court underlined that the decision does not mean that it has taken any position on whether such weapons were used on March 15, 2025, and that it does not prejudge the outcome of the petition that the applicants would request.
The special rapporteurs of the United Nations have launched a procedure to establish what kind of tool was used at the protest, the non-governmental organizations announced.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty said at the end of April that it is necessary for the government and the Ombudsman in Serbia to quickly complete separate investigations regarding the claim that a stun gun was used at the March 15 protest in Belgrade, Radio Free Europe reported.10
O'Flaherty visited Serbia from April 25 to 27 and requested that the government ensure the safety of the protesters, improve the working environment for civil society organizations and "avoid stigmatizing the protesters", that is, that the protests should not be characterized as a "color revolution".
On April 8, the Move-Change movement submitted to the Office of the Permanent Coordinator of the United Nations in Serbia a petition with about 600.000 signatures demanding an independent international investigation into the use of sound weapons against the participants of the peaceful protest on March 15 in Belgrade.4
The President of the Democratic Party, Srđan Milivojević, handed it over to the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime on April 23 criminal complaint against Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and others for "shooting at citizens of Serbia" on March 15 with sonic or acoustic weapons.9
Criticisms of the investigation
"The facts that were presented to the public refute the conclusions of the prosecution. This is because the prosecution did not carry out a full procedure but met the expectations of politics," Goran Ilić, prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, told "Vreme".
He again, as many times in previous years, criticizes that the prosecutor's office in Serbia is often not independent in relation to the one it should act towards - in this case, the state. "There remains a faint hope that a complete and effective procedure will be carried out in the future with respect for the facts that the public has come to know," Ilić adds.
Đorđe Alempijević, a professor of forensic medicine at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, has participated in a series of investigations around the world for similar cases - the latest for the attack on protesters in Tbilisi last December.
But he had never seen anything like this in Belgrade either. It seems, says Alempijević for "Vreme", that the investigation is behaving like a bad doctor who tells the patient from the door that he imagined all the problems. And the time for a serious investigation is running out.
"Every investigation must be effective. The more time passes, the more noise you have. We are witnessing contradictory information given by the highest representatives of the government. This creates a dose of doubt. Perhaps it is better not to give information immediately and say that you do not know something, that only the investigation will determine. This gives a dose of seriousness," says Alempijević.
After the protests, there were reports of people suffering health effects, from anxiety to hearing damage. There were fractures and lacerations in the stampede. But, while certain newsrooms and non-governmental organizations deal with the collection of those testimonies, there is nothing to indicate that the prosecution took this matter seriously.
"The first way is for people to report to the prosecutor's office with medical reports. The second way is for the prosecutor's office to ask health organizations for reports for all examined patients in a given period," says Alempijević. He says that such a serious analysis cannot be done in two or three days. "In a very short time after the meeting, there was a complete denial of the event, rejection of any agent that caused such a reaction of people and everything was attributed to the psychic reaction of people, although their number gives credibility to the testimonies. So even if you put forward the thesis that people invented everything, then that also requires the responsibility of those people, but you have to rule out the use of an agent that caused it."
According to him, experts from the Institute and the Institute of Forensic Medicine or medical faculties should be involved in the investigation, by order of the prosecution. He does not know whether and how they are involved.
VII
POLITICS TURNS
While there is still no final proof, the authorities have opted for a tried and tested tactic - on the one hand mocking the people who felt what they felt while accusing the opposition and the "color revolution" of "lying" about the sound cannon. On the other hand, offering an investigation by the FBI and FSB as the ultimate authorities.
President Aleksandar Vučić repeats that these are all "lies" and chooses to make people crazy. It's as if the earlier version served by the BIA through the tabloids has fallen into disrepair - that the entire stampede was caused by student-guards who were retreating from the plateau in front of the Assembly towards Kralja Milana Street.
Moreover, Vučić opened a new round of mockery of the incident on Pink TV (March 31), suggesting that running away from the street was rehearsed. He commented on the fact that, among thousands of citizens, some did not get off the street at that time. "Some were mistaken and stayed in the middle because there was nothing wrong with them. They didn't hear the command 'come on, take cover to the left and right,'" said the president with a hearty laugh.
"They need lies and they think that with lies, as they say, they can 'inflate' something. There is nothing like that, the people want a decent Serbia, they are fed up with terror and the pendulum of anger has turned the other way," said Vučić.
Even prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac - notorious for her silence on everything in Serbia - came under fire through the tabloid "Informer". "Informer" wonders if Dolovac will finally start arresting people for "spreading panic" and the "false" story about the sound cannon.
Filip Eidus, professor of security studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, evaluates the government's behavior as an "attempt to gestalt", which is a modern term for convincing people that their feelings and thoughts are not valid, that something is actually wrong with them and that they have misunderstood.
"The authorities are trying to convince us not to trust our eyes, ears and common sense, but to leave the monopoly over the interpretation of reality to their factory of lies," Eidus told Vreme. "Due to the abundance of evidence, their attempt at official gestalt has failed, but the regime is only getting more and more entangled in lies and its legs are getting shorter and shorter."
The opposition, many of whom did not want to speak to "Vreme" about this topic, already on the first evening seized on the theory about the sound cannon, claiming that the government "shot at its own people" and that this would be the beginning of the end of that government.
Socialist Branko Ružić, a kind of dissident within the government, has no qualms. "The bottom line is - something was used on the street, and there are many theories as to how, what and from where. It would be honorable to conduct an objective and credible investigation," he says in an interview for "Vreme".
Fuel for protests?
Political scientist Dejan Bursać sees the government's reactions as "a shot in the foot, with which they once again delegitimized themselves." "I believe I'm not the only one to whom the authorities' statements about whether or not they have a sound cannon, and then whether it was or wasn't at the protest, resembled those after the fall of the canopy, when they first claimed that they hadn't renovated it at all," says Bursać. "It just shows that the SNS is doing very poorly in crisis situations in recent months and provides a lot of material for the protest movement."
Philip Eidus, who is also one of the founders of ProGlas, an opposition civil initiative, does not believe that we will have an epilogue to the events of March 15 as long as this government is in power. "Even if new evidence emerges, the regime will invent a new lie," Eidus says. "And so until we get tired or move on to some new horror they have in store for us."
On April 4, on Students' Day, the students in the blockade announced that as their fifth demand, they added a request for an investigation into the incident in Kralja Milan. They formulated the request so that they have no dilemma that some technology was used on people. They want to know who, how, from where. And how can it never happen again.²
***
ABOUT THE "HUK" DOSSIER
This journalistic research has not been completed. In some happier times, and if the matter was of less public interest, it would not have been published yet. But now it had to.
The data could only be collected with the great willingness of people to testify. But personal experiences can be a perishable thing, sometimes they are opposed.
It is even more difficult because the authorities refuse to provide answers and even ridicule the stories of some sonic weapons. The rebellious people are already convinced that something was used - many would swear they know what, although there is no final proof, or at least we haven't found it yet.
But, we unequivocally established the epicenter of the roar, as well as that the masked thugs simultaneously, during the silence, hit with cannon shots, increasing the panic. Also, it is clear that science has no explanation for the movement of mass - unless some means is used.
The "Hook" file was regularly updated until May 7, 2025. In a shorter version, it was first published in "Vremen" on March 26, 2025, and here on April 4, 2025. Below is a detailed list of changes that have occurred since then.
CHANGELOG AND CORRECTIONS:
¹New information from the Prosecutor's Office (added April 4, 2025)
²Fifth Student Request (added April 5, 2025)
³Information presented by Čedomir Jovanović (added on April 7, 2025)
4Petition of the Move-Change movement (added on April 8, 2025)
5NGO Research (added 8 April 2025)
6Filed criminal charges and proceedings (added 10 April 2025)
7Prosecutor's Office on Interrogation of Citizens (added on April 14, 2025)
8Results of the Russian FSB investigation (added 16 April 2025)
9Criminal complaint of the Democratic Party (added 23 April 2025)
10Statement by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (added on 29 April 2025)
11Statement of the European Court of Human Rights (added on 30 April 2025)
