PUF Movement Reports Death Threats After Protest
Founders of the Zrenjanin-based Changes in Focus movement, Milan Pernat and Miljan Cicic, say they received death threats on social media after a protest in Zablje and have reported the case to police.
- The Zrenjanin-based PUF movement says its founders, Milan Pernat and Miljan Cicic, received death threats after a protest in Zablje.
- The threats were reported to police on July 27, with a demand for a swift response from the authorities.
- The movement's Facebook page has about 161,000 followers; the threatening comment suggested a bullet awaited the two founders.
- The case fits a wider pattern of pressure on participants in Serbia's months-long protests.
The civic movement Changes in Focus, widely known by the acronym PUF, says its founders and legal representatives, Milan Pernat and Miljan Cicic, received death threats following a protest held in Zablje. The movement, based in Zrenjanin, said it reported the case to police on Sunday, July 27, and expects a prompt response from the competent authorities.
According to the movement’s statement, the threatening comments appeared on the Changes in Focus Facebook page, which has around 161,000 followers, shortly after a video from the protest was posted. Among the messages, the movement says, was a comment suggesting that a bullet awaited the two founders, which Pernat and Cicic took as a direct threat to their lives.
The founders said that political opponents settle their differences with arguments, not with threats of murder, and demanded that those responsible be held accountable under the law. In the statement, they also recalled earlier incidents, including insults and attacks from what they describe as fake accounts, as well as threats they link to associates of Veljko Belivuk.
What the movement states in its report
PUF says the threats are nothing new. Pernat, according to the movement, had previously been the target of physical attacks, and the founders say they have received messages threatening that their families would be killed. They also mention an earlier attempt by masked individuals carrying torches at one of the gatherings. The movement says some of its earlier reports drew no response from police, which is why it now insists on urgent action and on establishing who is behind the messages.
Threats of this kind, aimed at people who organize public gatherings, fall under criminal law rather than political debate. That is precisely why the movement is asking that the report not be filed away, but that it reach a clear legal outcome, with responsibility established for those who posted the messages.
Do institutions respond to threats against activists?
The PUF case is not an isolated one. In recent months, amid student and civic protests across Serbia, a number of participants and organizers have reported threats, insults, and pressure. The recurring question is how quickly and thoroughly the authorities respond to such reports, especially when they come from people who publicly criticize the government or local power brokers.
For now, there has been no official response from police or prosecutors to the latest report from Zrenjanin. The movement said it will keep the public informed about the case and expects institutions to recognize the seriousness of the threats. Whether the report from Zablje will reach a resolution before the authorities, or join a line of unresolved cases, the coming days will show.
How should institutions handle it when activists report death threats, and do you believe this case will be prosecuted?
