Dejan Ilić, a Peščanika columnist, was released after being detained for making a statement on television
Columnist Sandstone Dejan Ilic he was released after being arrested, it was announced on the portal's social networks.
Dejan Ilić was released.
— Sandstone (@Sandstone) April 10, 2025
After the interrogation of Dejan Ilic, which took place in the premises of the Novi Beograd police station, in the presence of the prosecutor and legal representatives, his detention was lifted, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia announced.
According to reports, Dejan Ilić came to the police station in Novi Beograd, where he was detained by order of the prosecution, on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of causing panic and disorder, and in connection with his appearance on N1 and Nova S televisions.
After the hearing, based on the prosecutor's decision, he was released, and a criminal complaint will be filed against him for causing panic and disorder, according to the MUP.
The Third Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade confirmed earlier on Thursday (April 10) that the columnist was detained Sandstone Dejan Ilic and that he was detained.
As stated in the announcement of the Prosecutor's Office, the decision to detain the defendant DI was made due to the existence of reasonable suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of causing panic and disorder by causing panic in the program 'Pokreni se', which was broadcast on 'Nova' television on March 29, 2025, "on the basis of making false claims".
As it is added, the statement is disputed: "You have to choose - either you will open the door for those people to take refuge, and the transitional government is the one who opens the door, or you will put up with the fact that blood will flow in the streets, that we will lose I don't know how many lives and we don't know whose lives, in order to get rid of them."
On the evening of April 9, Dejan Ilić was summoned to the police station for an interview.
"Apparently, my mother tells me, they were at my address around 10:11 in the evening, and at 10:XNUMX they called me and told me to come to the police for an interview. I said that it was late and that I wouldn't come alone even in the middle of the night. They told me to call a lawyer and that I had to come immediately," Ilić said earlier on Thursday (April XNUMX).
When he asked what was so urgent, the police did not give an explanation, but they called him again the next day and a pleasant police officer, he adds, told him that he was suspected of causing panic, but that it was nothing serious.
"But the lawyer told me that it is very serious. I will go with the lawyer and we will see," he added.
Condemnations from journalist associations
The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) expressed its concern earlier on Thursday (April 10) regarding the detention of publicist and columnist Peščanik Dejan Ilic by order of the Third Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade, assessing that the prosecution's reaction represents a serious precedent and a dangerous message for freedom of expression in Serbia.
According to NUNS, criminal prosecution due to a spoken political assessment or prediction about the possible consequences of social and political processes is not only disproportionate, but also illegal in light of domestic and international norms that guarantee freedom of thought and speech.
In the statement, NUNS reminds that journalists, public intellectuals and analysts are obliged to point out problems in society, and that institutions must guarantee a safe environment for their free expression.
"Instead, we are witnessing more and more frequent attempts to silence critical voices through abuse of the judiciary and selective application of the law," stated NUNS, adding that in a democratic society, disagreement with the position expressed should not be grounds for criminal prosecution.
The association warned that such moves by state authorities have the effect of intimidating and deterring public engagement, thereby further collapsing the space for public debate.
"The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia calls on the competent institutions to immediately stop actions that may represent a direct attack on freedom of expression, to act in accordance with the Constitution of Serbia and the obligations assumed by international documents, as well as to stop stifling democratic dialogue in society," the statement said.
The SafeJournalists network also condemned the detention of Peščanik columnist Dejan Ilić and any politically motivated persecution and intimidation of journalists and all actors who publicly express their opinions, as well as the selective actions of the prosecution and the police.
The SafeJournalists network called on the Prosecutor's Office to reconsider the decision, bearing in mind that Dejan Ilić did not make any claims in his speech, as reported, but only his opinion on the current socio-political crisis in Serbia.
The SafeJournalists regional network consists of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, the Association of Macedonian Journalists, the Association of BiH Journalists, the Croatian Journalists' Association, the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia and the Media Union of Montenegro.
Oppositionists have spoken out.
Leader of the Green-Left Front (ZLF) Radomir Lazović said earlier on Thursday (April 10) that Peščanika columnist Dejan Ilić was detained, adding that the detention of Ilić was "an act of regime repression against a man who called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the country."
Lazović conveyed the position of the president of the Movement of Free Citizens, Pavlo Grbović, who condemns Ilić's detention and believes that it is "unacceptable terror carried out against politically unfit people, especially if we take into account that the detention of activists from Novi Sad was extended today."
The Democratic Party (DS) condemned the repression and detention of columnist Dejan Ilic.
"The regime of Aleksandar Vučić, in the manner of any autocrat, resorts to intimidation of citizens, intellectuals and free people, believing that they will suppress the rebellion of dignity with a club," the statement of the DS points out.
The statement expresses the belief that Ilic will be released, like many before him.
It is emphasized that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, misjudged the spirit of the citizens of Serbia, because no one is afraid anymore.
"The regime that arrests intellectuals, columnists, students and activists - does not fall in silence. It falls on the street or at the polls when the elections are fair. It falls when no one agrees to remain silent, and the citizens have stopped being silent and afraid of fraudsters," states DS.
The Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) assessed that the police and media persecution of Peščanik columnist Dejan Ilic was carried out on the orders of the President of the State, Aleksandar Vučić.
"According to an elaborate mechanism, when someone criticizes the regime with a reasoned argument, a media lynching begins on the tabloids, and then an invitation arrives from the police for an informative interview due to a fabricated criminal offense - spreading panic," the announcement states.
"This time they went a step further and passed a decision on detention that goes against all rules and common sense. With this, the regime has confirmed that it has entered the final phase, all that remains is to start killing dissenters," SSP points out.
The media previously reported that Ilić was invited to the interview because of the sentence: "Transitional government is much better than bloodshed in the street", which Ilić said in an interview on N1 in early April.
A week later, the newspaper "Politika" announced that "Dejan Ilić made public disturbing claims that only the transitional government can prevent bloodshed in Serbia." That same evening, Ilic received a call from the police to come for an interview. He was told he was a suspect - for causing panic.
A normal person can experience it as a threat
However, Ilić continues, out of context in "Politica" they interpreted it as a threat.
The officer who called him last night did not answer, but this morning another called him, telling him that he was suspected of causing panic.
"He said that the prosecutor would also be there. And he was an extremely kind man and presented it to me as 'no problem'. Since we have learned over the years that nothing is so harmless, I called a lawyer who told her that it is very serious and that one must think carefully about how to proceed," he said.
Ilić states that he will go to talk with a lawyer.
"I think they (the government) are out of their mind and looking for enemies everywhere. It's somehow completely fantastic to me that someone sees an enemy in me. And if that's the case, then they really don't have anyone to declare an enemy anymore, nor do they have anywhere to hit. That they randomly grab whatever, but even that small clip from that conversation, when you look more closely, you see that it's a call for a peaceful solution, not some kind of threat," he explained.
He says that he doesn't know why the government is doing this - "they keep calling for a peaceful solution, and they are pushing harder and harder."
"But they have obviously entered a new phase, it's clear as day, and it will be a phase with much more violence, much more threats, much more arrests. I don't know how it will end. I think that all the actors in this insurgency have to take that into account, but also that we don't even have much time for agreements. That solutions have to be found very quickly. Now I'm going to use the word again because of which someone might say that I'm threatening or causing panic - but that whole front would have to become united, stand against the regime and say 'we are for a peaceful solution, this is the way to get out of all this, we extend our hand to you, and you are responsible for everything that will happen in the future,'" he said.
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