Serbian police to film crowds in Belgrade and Kikinda
Kikinda police say they will photograph and film people at gatherings on July 30 and 31, a day after the Interior Ministry announced the same for Belgrade. Both cite Article 52.
The Kikinda Police Department said on July 29 that officers will photograph and film people attending gatherings expected on July 30 and 31 at several locations across the department’s territory. The measure covers both registered and unregistered assemblies. The stated legal basis is Article 52 of the Police Act.
The same notice went out for the capital a day earlier. The Interior Ministry (MUP) announced on July 28 that officers would film and photograph people at public gatherings and football matches in Belgrade on July 29. Article 52 was cited there as well. That statement named no location, no match and no club.
Third notice in ten days
Kikinda police issued the same measure on July 20, then for July 21 and 22. On the same day the Zrenjanin Police Department announced filming for the period from July 21 to 24. With the July 29 statement, one police department has told residents twice in nine days that it will record who shows up.
The sequence runs as follows:
- July 20, Kikinda police for July 21 and 22, Zrenjanin police for July 21 to 24
- July 28, the Interior Ministry for Belgrade, for July 29
- July 29, Kikinda police for July 30 and 31
The wording barely changes from one statement to the next. Dates, towns and departments rotate, while the legal basis and the description of the measure stay put. What looked on July 20 like a notice tied to a single weekend now reads, after three statements in ten days, like standing procedure.
What the statements leave out
None of the three names the organisers of the gatherings or the reason for them. There is no word on how long the recorded material is kept, who can access it, or whether it is used once the event is over. The police announce that they will film. They do not explain what happens to the footage afterwards.
The line between securing an assembly and logging the individuals who attend it is not merely technical. The first is routine police work in a public place. The second is processing personal data, governed by rules that require a defined purpose and a retention period. The statements say nothing about either.
Does the notice change anything for people attending?
In legal terms, no. The right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution, and announcing that cameras will run is neither a ban nor a condition for holding a gathering. Unregistered assemblies still take place, and police retain their powers in public spaces.
In practice, the shift is in the timing. The measure is now published a day or two ahead, so anyone planning to attend knows in advance that police cameras will be working at that location.
The dates, the towns and the article of the law are known. How many more such notices arrive before the end of summer is not.
