Zemun Search and Lazar Misic: Lawyer Calls It Unlawful

Students in blockade say that on October 20, 2026, police began searching premises with the aim of arresting students, and that their colleague Lazar Misic is the first target. According to a post on X, the searches began two days before the final rally of the Student List at Slavija, scheduled for Thursday, October 22, at 6 p.m. The Interior Ministry had not answered questions about the operation by the time N1 and Vreme published their reports.

What did the students say about the search?

The students, who run in the October 25 election as “Student List - Students Win”, posted a statement on X that N1, Vreme and Danas carried in nearly identical form. It reads:

“Searches of premises have begun with the aim of arresting students. First in line is our colleague Lazar Misic. Police are currently searching premises that they claim Lazar allegedly uses. His lawyers are already involved in the proceedings and confirm that Lazar has not been detained so far. They stress that the searches are being carried out on pretexts that, in their assessment, serve to intimidate and harass students. When those in power are clearly losing, they reach for every show of force. But police pressure cannot stifle discontent, and masks cannot hide responsibility.”

The post ends with the message: “We will not back down in the face of intimidation. We will not fall for provocations.” The students added that they will not give up the fight for a free and just society, and called on people to gather at Slavija. The students attribute the claim that Misic has not been detained to his lawyers, and there is no independent confirmation of it.

What happened at the raft in Zemun?

Student Luka Pesic posted a video around noon showing a group of police officers on the “July 4” raft, a floating venue in Zemun. In the post he wrote: “Police stormed the little cabin where we stayed over the past weeks”. According to him, the students had been using the raft for the previous weeks.

N1 readers report that Interior Ministry officers left the raft around 3:30 p.m. Pesic told N1 that talks with lawyers are under way and that they will make statements if a decision is made to speak publicly.

The sources differ on which premises are involved. N1 and Vreme mention the “July 4” raft, while Nova.rs says the searched premises also include the Gugutka raft in Zemun. Danas does not name the premises at all in its text. From what has been published, it is impossible to tell whether it is the same raft or two separate venues.

N1 put three questions to the Interior Ministry: whether police intervened at the raft, who ordered it, and for what reason. No answer had arrived by publication, and Vreme notes that the students’ claims have not been confirmed in responses from the competent institutions.

What does lawyer Marko Draskovic say?

Lawyer Marko Draskovic, who represents Lazar Misic, told N1 that the search is unlawful and that it is problematic for it to be directed by a prosecutor from the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. The prosecutor’s name has not been published. According to him, items are being taken from citizens, though the sources do not say which items. Draskovic said of them:

“It is not good when, in such an unlawful search, items are taken from citizens whose possession, that is, keeping, is not prohibited by law, nor are they items obtained through a criminal offense.”

His most concrete claim concerns the warrant itself. According to Draskovic, it states that the goal is to find illegal drugs and to look for an unidentified suspect under the pseudonym Gandi, the name under which Misic is known in the media. “So, the warrant does not mention the name Lazar Misic,” the lawyer said.

Asked whether he expects his client to be taken in, Draskovic answered that he does not, but that such a turn of events would not surprise him. He explained: “Considering everything we have witnessed over the past two years, when young people were taken in and arrested without any legal grounds. But I absolutely believe there is no legal basis for anything like that.”

Asked whether the case can be linked to the wiretapping of students, he replied “Absolutely” and added: “The most problematic part is that the results of those special legal measures ended up in tabloid media, and not with the prosecution or in court.”

Who is Lazar Misic and why is his name back in the news?

Misic is a student at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Belgrade. In May 2026 he was stopped at passport control at Nikola Tesla Airport and taken to a police station. He is suspected of having called, in May 2025, for a blockade of the highway and of the Nikola Tesla power plant in Obrenovac, that is, for the overthrow of the constitutional order, a criminal offense under Article 309 of the Criminal Code.

After questioning at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office he was released on May 7, with a ban on leaving his place of residence. He denied the charges. His lawyer at the time, Zdenko Tomanovic, called it a “show of force by the regime”.

What had the students announced two days earlier?

On October 18, the students claimed that the authorities were recording their meetings and preparing arrests ahead of the final rally. In that statement on X they said: “Record. Listen. Listen back. You will not find anything unlawful.” They described the claims about prepared arrests as a “direct threat” and asked: “Because what if one of our colleagues disappears tomorrow?”

Vreme points out that these student claims about arrests and other possible moves by the authorities have so far not been confirmed in responses from the competent institutions. The authorities’ position on today’s searches does not exist in the published sources, because the Interior Ministry has not responded, so the facts so far come down to claims by the students and a lawyer.

The next concrete date is Thursday, October 22, when the final rally of the Student List is scheduled at Slavija at 6 p.m., three days before the election.