Civil society organizations — the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, Civic Initiatives, Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM, A 11 Initiative, FemPlatz, and CRTA — have filed a criminal complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime against unknown perpetrators for suspected acts of terrorism committed on March 15, 2025. The complaint concerns the use of an unidentified and dangerous device during a peaceful protest in Belgrade, which disrupted the gathering held to mark “15 Minutes of Silence.”
At today’s press conference, the organizations presented the legal and advocacy measures undertaken before domestic and international institutions to protect the human rights of Serbian citizens. These include submissions to United Nations mechanisms, which have triggered special procedures, and an application for interim measures before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Following the protest, more than 4,000 citizens reached out to the organizations with testimonies describing the consequences they experienced — ranging from panic and fear to physical injuries. Over 3,000 anonymized testimonies have been made publicly available on the platform zvuk.labs.rs.
Katarina Golubović, President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM, emphasized that the events of March 15 constituted an attack on the life, bodily integrity, and liberty of a large number of citizens, which is why the complaint was submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor for Organized Crime. She also noted that the organizations are in communication with the First Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which is conducting a preliminary investigation into the March 15 incident.
According to Golubović, the mass public response and outreach to civil society organizations clearly reflect widespread concern that an attack may have been carried out, as well as deep-rooted public distrust in state institutions.
Vladica Ilić from the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights informed the media that April 8 marked the deadline by which the Republic of Serbia was obligated to submit its comments to the ECtHR regarding the alleged use of sonic or other devices during the March 15 protest. A notification from the Court is expected later today or tomorrow.
In its submission to the ECtHR, the State denied both the use and possession of any sonic or similar weapon, consistent with its narrative in public communication, Ilić added.
The platform zvuk.labs.rs contains testimonies describing a sound-based attack during a peaceful gathering in memory of the victims of a roof collapse in Novi Sad. As explained by Đorđe Krivokapić from the SHARE Foundation, the testimonies are categorized by zones, covering the area from the Albanija Building to Slavija Square. The database also includes analyses of sound and other stimuli as reported by citizens, with particular focus on psychological effects — fear, anxiety, confusion, numbness, and other symptoms, some of which have persisted for nearly a month after the protest.
The full recording of the press conference is available here. When playing the video, please click on the “CC” (closed caption) button and select “English” as the subtitle option. This will allow you to follow the entire conference with English subtitles.
