Police Enter Student List Warehouse Without Warrant

Students in blockade at universities across the country announced on the evening of September 16 that officers from the Economic Crime Police had entered the warehouse where they keep promotional material for upcoming actions. The news was posted on the Instagram account of List 3, Students Win (@studenti_u_blokadi), and according to the students, the officers had no warrant and entered private property.

“They showed up without a warrant and entered private property,” the students wrote in the post, adding that what they called cheap intimidation attempts would not shake them.

The students say the police visit was immediately followed by a reaction from lawyers, students and citizens, which in their view proved once again that they do not intend to back down or be intimidated. “Whoever is smarter doesn’t give in, they organize,” they said in the same post.

As of this writing, neither the Interior Ministry (MUP) nor the prosecution has issued a statement explaining why Economic Crime Police officers came to the warehouse. It is not known whether anything was seized from the premises, or whether anyone was questioned in connection with the visit. The students’ post does not name the city where the warehouse is located, and none of the posts so far mention how many officers took part.

The Students Win list grew out of the student movement that organized university blockades over recent months, and since its registration with the Republic Election Commission it has run as an official contender in the race for the National Assembly. According to the students, the warehouse is used to store material for upcoming campaign actions ahead of the parliamentary election set for October 25, chiefly T-shirts, badges and other items carrying the message “Students Win.” The same phrase appears in the list’s name, which the Republic Election Commission registered earlier this month as List number 3 on the ballot, as we reported at the time.

The students announced that despite what they describe in the post as an intimidation attempt, they will again wear and hand out T-shirts and badges with the same message in the coming days, to put it back in front of the public ahead of the election. The post also carried a message to voters: “The choice ahead of us is clear: Serbia or the mafia,” they said, without specifying exactly whom that was aimed at.

The case comes down to two entirely separate sets of claims. On one side is the students’ account that police officers entered the space where they keep campaign material without a warrant, backed only by their own post. On the other side is a complete absence of any response from the authorities, who have so far neither confirmed nor denied that the entry took place, nor explained on what basis officers from a unit that handles economic crimes would have any reason to act on a warehouse full of T-shirts and badges. Until that gap is filled by an official statement, the public is left with only two versions of that evening: the one the students wrote, and silence from the other side.

It remains to be seen whether the Interior Ministry and the prosecution will explain on what grounds Economic Crime Police officers entered a warehouse holding campaign material, and who ordered that visit. If an answer comes, it will likely arrive close to October 25, when voters weigh in for the first time on the list that appears as number 3 on the ballot.