Open questions for the Serbian judiciary

...

Freedom of peaceful assembly is a human right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Law on Public Assembly. In other words: citizens have the right to gather peacefully, and the state has a positive obligation to ensure this, both in terms of criminal law and civil law. However…

The mass protest in Belgrade on March 15 ended two hours before the official program predicted. The students, as the organizers of the meeting, took off their vests and appealed to the citizens to retreat safely, explaining that this decision was made due to an attack with bottles and stones that came from the direction of Pionirski Park, i.e. a group that presents itself as Students who want to learn or Students 2.0.

However, the incident at the so-called Ćaciland remained in the shadow of another event. Namely, during the fifteen-minute silent delivery of mail to the victims of the fall of the canopy at the Railway Station in Novi Sad, there was a lightning-fast separation of the gathered citizens along the width of Kralja Milana Street, most pronounced on the stretch from "London" to Cvetni trg.

Soon there were claims about the use of the so-called sound cannon, and the denials of the Minister of Police, which was followed by the statement of the Brigadier General of the Serbian Army that the Republic of Serbia does not possess such weapons.

DISPUTED POINTS

Let's deal with the criminal law aspect: The day after the protest, the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade gave an order to the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade to file a case and identify the persons who spread untrue information about the use of a "sound cannon" in the public, and explained that the order was given due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that the crime of causing panic and disorder under Article 343 of the Criminal Code had been committed.

At the time of writing this text, the statements of journalists and protest participants, as well as photos of medical reports with anamnestic data of patients who complained of headaches due to the impact of the so-called, are circulating on the Internet. sound cannon. About 520.000 citizens have signed a petition demanding an international independent investigation by the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the OSCE into the use of the sound cannon. The international non-governmental organization "Earshot", which, according to data available on the Internet, is engaged in researching audio materials with the aim of protecting human rights and the environment, announced on its Instagram account that four of the 12 submitted recordings contain the sound produced by the so-called vortex cannon.

Let's go back to the order by which the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade ordered the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade to identify persons who are suspected of having committed the criminal offense of causing panic and disorder.

The first condition for the existence of the criminal offense in question is that the person who presents or disseminates false news knows that the news is false. What's the problem here?

The problem is that on the same day that it received the order from the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade announced that it had opened another case regarding the media inscriptions, and ordered the MUP to determine what exactly happened at the protest, which caused panic, running, pushing and falling of the gathered citizens in Kralja Milana Street, as well as whether a pyrotechnic device, weapon or other generally dangerous device that could endanger life and limb was used on that occasion gathered citizens.

At the same time, the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade announced that after establishing the complete and accurate factual situation, it will make a decision whether the actions of NN persons have the characteristics of the criminal offense of Causing General Danger from Article 278 of the Criminal Code or any other criminal offense for which prosecution is undertaken ex officio. An order was also given to the police to determine whether certain persons reported to the Belgrade Center for Human Rights because of the event in question.

On March 16, the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade is just starting to take evidentiary actions on the circumstance of whether someone committed a criminal offense to the detriment of the gathered citizens, therefore, at that moment, it still does not know whether or not the offense was committed, but at the same time, by order of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, it should form a case, identify the persons who spread untrue information about the use of the "sound cannon" in the public, and prosecute them according to the law for the criminal offense of Causing panic and disorder.

On the day this text was submitted (March 18), the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade issued a statement stating that none of the protest security units and members used the so-called sound cannon, but that the Prosecutor's Office will continue to work on establishing what caused such behavior of citizens.

When we put things this way, we come to the conclusion that the First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade has not yet found out what actually happened, but that the persons who present or spread their knowledge and impressions on the Internet know or are obliged to know that a sound cannon or any other weapon was not used, and that, by sharing their own or other people's experience from the protest, they do so knowingly with the intention of causing panic and disorder.

Should we really expect citizens to know that something that the Prosecutor's Office is still investigating is not true? As stated, the initiative to conduct an international investigation is requested by approximately 520.000 signatories. Still, that would be too many suspects.

WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED

Once again, let's establish: The First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade still has not finally determined whether on March 15 this year, around 19.11:XNUMX p.m., a criminal offense was committed in Kralja Milana Street in Belgrade to the detriment of the gathered citizens, for which they are being prosecuted ex officio. Let's take as true the statements of state officials that the security structures in Serbia do not possess the so-called sound cannon. On the other hand, videos and medical reports are shared on the Internet, there are numerous statements by journalists and citizens in the media that they had the feeling that "something is coming that will trample them all", there is also the opinion of "Earshot" that on several recordings there is a sound produced by the so-called vortex cannon.

All this forces the conclusion that the Prosecutor's Office should further investigate what happened.

Since the state denies the possession and use of the so-called sound cannon, the question arises - was such or any other weapon used at all? If so, who used it? That is, does anyone, outside of the state, own similar weapons? In this particular case, are there grounds for suspicion that an unknown person has committed the crime of Terrorism under Article 391 of the Criminal Code to the detriment of peacefully gathered citizens? The condition for the existence of the criminal offense in question is that the population is seriously intimidated, and the threatened sentence is from five to 15 years in prison. If this is the case, the absolute statute of limitations for criminal prosecution for this crime will occur in thirty years, on March 16, 2055. Greater panic would be caused by the absence of an answer from the investigation to the question of what exactly happened.

Enemy Propaganda 2.0

As for the civil protection of peaceful assembly participants, as stated, the state has a positive obligation to provide citizens with the freedom of peaceful assembly, and the Law on Obligations prescribes the right to compensation for damages to persons caused by acts of violence or terror, as well as during public demonstrations and manifestations, for which the state is responsible. The state's responsibility stems from its duty to ensure the safety of people and property. In our nation, the criminal justice part of the judiciary enjoys greater authority, however, in practice it often happens that litigation acts as a corrective to guilt. Proceedings are still being conducted before the civil courts for compensation of damages following the lawsuits of the heirs of persons who in these areas were deprived of life and liberty due to political, national, religious and ideological reasons, without the right to a fair trial. Not so long ago, you could also be held responsible for enemy propaganda here because of the drawings. I hope that the current prosecutor's office will not do a similar "job" to future generations of judges.

The author is a lawyer