On Monday (November 24.11), the trial of 12 activists will begin in Novi Sad Movement of free citizens and the STAV group, accused of an attempt to forcefully change the constitutional arrangement. What do the accused and their lawyers expect?
The trial of members of the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) Mladen Cvijetić, Srđan Đurić, Marija Vasić, Lado Jovović and Davor Stefanović, as well as activists of the informal organization STAV Lazar Dinić, begins before the High Court in Novi Sad.
The court process, but in absentia, also begins for Dinić's colleagues from STAV who are not in Serbia and for whom a warrant has been issued, i.e. for Branislav Đorđević, Doroteja Antić, Mila Pajić, Anja Pitulić, Jovan Dražić and Dejan Bagarić, he reminds Deutsche says.
Illegal action?
They are accused of, as stated in the indictment of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, which DW had access to, on March 12 this year in the premises of the PSG in Novi Sad, they "agreed and planned" during the March 15 protest in Belgrade to "forcefully attempt to change the constitutional order of Serbia", as well as to "overthrow the highest state bodies and representatives of those bodies" - the Assembly, the Government and the President of the State.
The explanation of the indictment describes their conversation, which was eavesdropped by the Security and Information Agency (BIA), and which was broadcast on several television stations with a national frequency in March. Since then, comments from a section of the public close to the authorities have not stopped that these are "terrorists" who planned to carry out a "color revolution" and "called for a civil war".
Ever since the criminal complaint was filed against them, many lawyers pointed out that it was an illegal proceeding, since the criminal complaint is based on an audio recording of a wiretapped conversation, which was not obtained in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, and therefore cannot be used for criminal proceedings.
"A procedure that essentially relies on one illegal piece of evidence cannot survive the standards of a legal and fair procedure," lawyer Filip Lazić told DW.
The recording of the conversation between PSG and STAV activists came about by accident - the indictment states that the conversation was discovered based on "a BIA report on the results of the application of a special measure that deviates from the principle of the inviolability of letters and other means of communication according to (MP and PSG vice-president) Ana Oreg".
She wrote on the X social network on November 4 that in order to implement the measures under which she was or still is, "there should be reasonable suspicion that someone is a threat to national security."
"In my case, it is a complete fabrication. I claim that these measures are there to eavesdrop on the work of the opposition," stated Oreg.
The PSG previously requested the suspension of the proceedings against their activists and those of the STAV group "due to illegally collected evidence".
"If the judiciary, under the pressure of the regime, remains in its positions, we demand that the trial be open to the public so that it can get answers to the questions of who, why and under what justification was being followed and recorded," said the PSG.
Defense arguments
Lawyer Predrag Bogovac told DW that Marija Vasić's defense will be based, among other things, on the fact that "from the story - perhaps we could take some action, e.g. approaching RTS or appearing on RTS (which is mentioned in the wiretapped conversation) - it does not result from planning to overthrow the government and change the constitutional order".
"That is the defense of Marija Vasić, and I think it will more or less be the defense of the other defendants as well. Lawyer Aleksandar Petrović and I will explain everything that Marija said to the court. So, what does what she said mean and why did she say it. We do not run away from the words spoken, but we have to explain to the court so that it gets the right context and so that it understands what it is about. I reckon that the court will understand that," says Bogovac.
Seven months in detention
Five PSG members and Lazar Dinić were first in custody, and then in house arrest for seven months each.
Although on May 7, the European Parliament adopted a resolution demanding the release of detained activists, on May 13, the court extended their detention for the third time to 30 days each. Marija Vasić then started a hunger and thirst strike, after which she was transferred to a prison hospital in Belgrade. After that, she, Jovović and Dinić were placed under house arrest, and the same decision was later made for Cvijetić, Srđan Đurić and Davor Stefanović.
"I was, of course, ignorant of the treatment of detainees; I did not know that every time they leave the institution, such as going to the doctor or to a hearing, the detainees are handcuffed on their hands and feet, that women have the right to three showers a week, that there are no hair dryers, that hair is dried on a radiator, that the door of the toilet in the room is deliberately over-tested, that you do not even have that privacy, that you do not have the right to any disinfectant, that you are not allowed to talk to in the hallway and that when someone comes by, you have to look at the wall," Marija Vasić told DW.
She adds that the letters she received traveled for a month.
"A lot of it makes no sense except to dehumanize you and break you mentally. After the third extension of detention, I went on the most rigorous form of strike, hunger and thirst. And that was the only thing that got all six of us out of there."
He states that there are no predictions as to how the trial will proceed.
"We have learned that anything can happen, as so far everything has happened when we least expected it and nothing when we expected it. This is how you have to live when you are in the hands of our judiciary," assesses Marija Vasić.
In exile
Doroteja Antić is one of the six activists of the STAV group who will be tried in absentia and for whom a warrant has been issued.
"Unfortunately, given that Serbia has become a modern dictatorship ruled by the principle of lawlessness, I do not have high expectations from the trial for now. If the prosecution had done its job adequately from the beginning, our case would have been dropped a long time ago since there is no valid evidence on the basis of which we could be convicted," Doroteja Antić told DW.
She adds that she could not have guessed that she would find herself in "political exile".
"Even though this experience was mentally burdensome and stressful to say the least, I believe that my comrades who stayed in Serbia and spent more than seven months in detention went through real hell. Fortunately, a few weeks ago they were released to defend themselves and that was a huge relief to me," says Antic.
When asked if she is thinking about seeking political asylum, she says that she and her five colleagues are "de facto in political exile."
"We are on a national wanted list in Serbia and unable to return to the country without immediate arrest, but in my eyes, as in reality, exile is not the same as asylum. The process of seeking asylum is a very long and complicated process that I have not seriously considered for now, but that option is not excluded if the trial does not go well."
The prosecutor stated in the indictment that he is asking for five years in prison for all the accused.
"Unlike our trial, for which there is no legal evidence, there is indeed evidence for the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad and the death of 16 people. That says everything about this society," concludes Marija Vasić for DW.
