Novi Sad: Five Arrested Over Suspected Election Violence

Four days before the parliamentary elections, police arrested at least seven people in three cities on suspicion of preparing violence for election day. Five were detained in Novi Sad, and one each in Zemun and Vrnjacka Banja. The operations took place on Wednesday, October 21, on orders from the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) and the Kraljevo Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office. All of them are suspects, and none has been convicted.

According to a statement from the Belgrade VJT, the Novi Sad operation was carried out in coordination with the Novi Sad Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office and officers of the Security Information Agency (BIA). Tanjug and Mondo report that the arrests were made by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ), and that searches of premises used by the suspects were under way.

What do prosecutors allege against the five in Novi Sad?

The detainees are M. V. (28), D. J. (28), D. S. (27), D. L. (28) and M. I. (28). Prosecutors say they are suspected of having “planned attacks on political opponents and police officers, with the intent of endangering the constitutional order and security of Serbia.”

According to prosecutors, the suspects allegedly were preparing mobile teams that would come to Belgrade and take part in violent actions. They are suspected of planning to obtain “ski masks, clubs, flares, knives and weapons.” M. V. was supposed to command a group of about 40 people, and with other groups joining, the number would have grown to “between 80 and 90 people.”

They are charged with “the criminal offenses of preparing acts against the constitutional order and security of Serbia and calling for a violent change of the constitutional order.” They have been ordered held for up to 48 hours, within which time they are to be brought in for questioning at the Belgrade VJT.

The figure of 80 in early reports refers to the planned group, not to those arrested. Tanjug reported during the morning that the group numbered about 80 people, while the official statement speaks of 40, with a possible rise to 90. The number of people arrested in Novi Sad is five.

Who was arrested in Vrnjacka Banja and Zemun?

In a separate operation, on orders from the Kraljevo VJT, M. A. from Vrnjacka Banja was arrested. He is suspected of calling for a violent change of the constitutional order and of planning to take part in riots in Belgrade on October 25. Before the arrest, police searched buildings and vehicles he used.

In Zemun, on orders from the Belgrade VJT, S. I. was arrested on suspicion of organizing and training several people to cause violence on election day and afterward. Tanjug, citing unofficial information, reports that he was in charge of training so-called mobile teams made up of boxers. A source cited by Kurir claims that maps of Belgrade with marked locations were found in his house, along with an observer’s pass for the local elections issued in his name as an activist of the association Belgrade Stays. There is no official confirmation of this.

What does the Belgrade Stays association say?

The association said S. I. is one of its activists and that police were at the addresses of several other members the same morning. Lawyer Rastko Naumov and the association state that the search of the apartment was ordered by the Belgrade Higher Court, on suspicion of the criminal offense of calling for a violent change of the constitutional order, and that electronic devices were seized. According to Vreme, S. I. was taken to the 29 November police station.

Naumov wrote in a post on X:

“A search of the apartment is under way on the order of the Higher Court in Belgrade, on the grounds of reasonable suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, and that he will be brought in.”

In its first post on X, the association said: “Police appeared at the addresses of several of our activists. At one they burst in with a search warrant.” It then rejected claims that, according to the association, were published by Politika, that S. I. was arrested for training boxers for street clashes. The statement says:

“We reject every claim about organizing violence and alleged ‘preparations for war.’”

The association adds: “No one may be declared guilty in advance or exposed to a public lynching.” The statement ends with the words: “We will not stay silent, we will not back down, and we will not submit to the repressive pressure of the outgoing regime!”

There is no statement from the defense for the five men arrested in Novi Sad or for M. A. as of publication.

What is unofficial, and what is confirmed?

Officially, through the Belgrade VJT statement, the identities of the five in Novi Sad, the criminal charges and the plan involving a group of about 40 people are confirmed. Everything else comes from sources the media do not name:

• Tanjug, Kurir and Novosti: M. V. recruited people and obtained weapons and other means for violence against political opponents and the police.
• Kurir and Novosti: the group planned to come to Belgrade with some 80 people and 15 to 20 vehicles, equipped with clubs, ski masks, flares and knives. Arson of cars, robbery and throwing Molotov cocktails from scooters are mentioned.
• Kurir and Mondo: M. V. allegedly threatened a Serbian Progressive Party candidate for member of parliament, whom Mondo identifies by the initials V. Dj. Kurir writes of a plan to kill him, and Mondo of a threat with a knife.
• Kurir: M. V. and M. A. hold Croatian passports. It is not known whether they also hold Serbian citizenship.

The elections are scheduled for October 25. The detainees are to be questioned at the Belgrade VJT within 48 hours of being taken into custody.