Twelve civil society organisations (CSOs) filed an initiative with the Protector of Citizens to launch a review of the legality and regularity of the operations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), specifically, with respect to police responses to reports of citizens rallying on top of residential buildings and firing torches and fireworks in the evenings and to granting of curfew passes.
Over the past few days, media and social networks have been publishing footage of groups of citizens lighting torches and powerful fireworks in Belgrade and other cities across Serbia in the evenings, amidst the curfew imposed under the Decree on State Emergency Measures. The fire department intervened in one such fire hazard case in Niš. There were also clashes between these people and the residents, without whose consent they climbed on the roofs of their buildings and lit torches and fireworks and activated drones.
The social media also published allegations by citizens who reported to the police violations of the curfew and the Public Law and Order Act (Article 17 prohibiting fireworks and firing weapons). They claim that the police told them that they were not competent for these misdemeanours and to report them to the local communal police instead. Others reported that the police came to the scene, but took no action after establishing that the citizens lighting torches and activating fireworks had the curfew passes issued by the MIA during the state of emergency.
Relying on Article 32 of the Protector of Citizens Act, the CSOs call on the Protector of Citizens to initiate a review of the legality and regularity of the MIA’s operations without delay, in order to establish:
The initiative was submitted by:
