In an attempt to determine what happened March 15, 2025, on the big day protest in Belgrade, during the fifteen-minute silence when something happened split the crowd in half on two opposite sides of Kralja Milan Street, a group of professors from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Belgrade analyzed more than three thousand testimonies collected from several non-governmental organizations addressed by those who attended the meeting.
The majority of those who shared their testimonies said that the sound came from the direction of Terazija towards Slavia, which is the direction that the journalists of "Vremen" in research that they have been doing since March 16.
The team of professors first processed the data on the locations where the citizens were at the time of the incident, classifying them into nine key zones, which cover the area from the Palace of Albania to Slavija. Most of the testimonies came from the part of the street from Beograđanka to the Yugoslav Drama Theater, where the most consequences were reported.
After that, attention is focused on analyzing the description of the sound and other experiences associated with the sound incident, according to the published analysis.
These testimonies are categorized according to the types of sounds and stimuli reported by citizens. Because many experienced sudden agitation and confusion, the testimonies often contain multiple impressions that have been carefully identified and attributed to each individual statement. The research team separately classified the physical and psychological effects of the sound incident, clearly separating them from the effects of the ensuing stampede.
Who heard the sound?
The majority of respondents (2851) reported hearing a sound. Most of them describe it as the sound of a machine-road-rail vehicle (car, truck, tow truck, motorcycle, train, tank), the sound of an airplane, aircraft or drone, and as a low-frequency sound (hum, hum, vibrations).
The largest number of testimonies about what kind of sound was heard were shared by those who were in the part of the street from Beograđanka to JDP.
Other symptoms
Apart from sound, when it comes to physical and psychological experiences, most people testify to wind, waves, and air currents.
Most of the respondents felt fear and anxiety, panic, shock, trauma, alienation, paranoia, the feeling of impending death, and disorientation, confusion, bewilderment, daze, confusion, insecurity, hopelessness, feeling of hopelessness.
A large number of people testify to general symptoms - nausea and disturbance of body temperature (elevated, cold, sweating, heat in the face, chills, fever and uncontrollable shaking of body parts).
When it comes to the consequences of the stampede, most people reported psychological consequences, as well as physical stress reactions. There were also those who reported heart problems.
Detailed descriptions and testimonials from people can be found in published research.
Data were collected through questionnaires from the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, Crta, FemPlatz, Civic Initiatives, A11 - Initiative for Economic and Social Rights and the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights - YUCOM.
How far has the investigation progressed?
24 days have passed since the event in Ulica Kralja Milana. In the first days, the authorities denied the use of any device, the existence of such devices in Serbia was denied, and after a few days such devices were presented to journalists.
The investigation is allegedly being carried out by the domestic prosecutor's office, which announced a few days ago that it had started calling people who had sent statements to non-governmental organizations and agreed to testify to the prosecutors. Representatives of the Russian Federal Security Service allegedly reside in Serbia.
The European Court of Human Rights was also involved in the investigation, which was approached by civil society organizations, requesting an investigation of the event. On Monday, March 31, the court received the answer of the Republic of Serbia regarding the allegations about the possible use of sonic weapons at the protest in Belgrade on March 15, 2025.
As stated at the time, the court in Strasbourg invited civil society organizations to submit comments on the state's response by April 8. In the same period, until April 8, the European Court of Human Rights invited the Republic of Serbia to submit its comments on the submission submitted by civil society organizations to the court on Monday, March 31, in which they informed the Court about the state of health of the applicants.
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.
