Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: February 14 – March 6, 2025
Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: February 14 – March 6, 2025

Author(s): Not Specified Author
Subject(s): Politics, Criminal Law, Civil Society, Governance, Communication studies, Criminology, Corruption - Transparency - Anti-Corruption
Published by: Građanske inicijative
Keywords: Repression; Journalists; Protests; Human Rights
Summary/Abstract: The deep political crisis that Serbia is also reflected in numerous violations of basic freedoms recorded in the observed period. In Belgrade, on February 25, members of the Criminal Police Directorate, on the order of the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, raided the premises of five non-governmental organizations: Civic Initiatives, CRTA, Trag Foundation, Center for Practical Politics, and the National Youth Council of Serbia. The Prosecutor’s Office ordered the collection of information from these pro-democracy NGOs, all because of the statements made by American officials against USAID. The raid comes at a time when the government is trying to present the current protests in Serbia as an attempt at a “color revolution” and after a months-long smear campaign by officials and tabloids on civil society, which loudly points to all human rights violations and irregularities in the work of the authorities. The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Loznica filed an indictment against Zlatko Kokanović, an activist of the association “Ne damo Jadar”, in connection with the blockade of the railway crossing from last year, and requested a prison sentence of 14 months. This is the first indictment related to environmental protests against lithium mining, and the proposed prison penalty is a serious danger for all citizens who faced arrests and detentions due to their activism during the previous year.

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