Prijovic Says Pre-Election Arrests Raise Political Doubts

Vladimir Prijovic, president of the Belgrade Bar Association, spoke out on the evening of October 21 about the arrests and searches police carried out ahead of the parliamentary elections on October 25. He said the timing of the actions, at the close of the campaign, raises suspicion that the police and prosecutors are being used for political ends.

Earlier the same day, the association Beograd ostaje said police had searched the Zemun apartment of one of its activists, S. I. (29). Djordje Miketic of the initiative called on citizens to gather outside the Palace of Justice in Belgrade at around 9 or 10 a.m. on October 22 to support the detainee.

What did Prijovic say about the arrests before the elections?

In a statement, Prijovic drew attention to the schedule of the actions:

“The coincidence in timing between the police actions, the arrests and searches, and the close of the election campaign is not a circumstance we can afford to ignore. It is especially worrying if, through such actions, and by creating an atmosphere of a state of emergency and an alleged security threat, an attempt is made to impose an image of students and the citizens who support them as a threat to public order and the constitutional system,” Prijovic said.

He asked whether the actions were the result of independent and professional conduct by the competent authorities, or whether there is an attempt to put police and judicial mechanisms in the service of the government’s election strategy. In his words, the result is that public attention is diverted:

“Instead of the public debating the ideas, values and changes the student movement advocates, attention is being redirected to spectacular arrests and searches, which opens room for their political discrediting and for intimidating citizens ahead of the elections,” he said.

Prijovic recalled that the Law on the Public Prosecution prohibits undue influence on holders of public prosecutor’s office in the exercise of their duties, and added:

“That prohibition is not a formality but one of the key guarantees that criminal prosecution is carried out in the public interest, and not in the interest of any political structure. Any suspicion that prosecutorial decisions are made or timed according to political needs demands serious public attention and an independent review,” Prijovic said.

The sources available to us do not show that prosecutors or police responded to his assessment.

Why was S. I. arrested, and what does Beograd ostaje say?

S. I. was arrested on October 21 on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. According to the prosecution, as reported by Danas, he is suspected of arranging, planning and training others for violence on election day, and of being in charge of training a number of so-called mobile teams. He is charged with preparing offenses against the constitutional order and security of Serbia, and has been placed in custody for up to 48 hours, after which the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade will question him.

The sources differ on the legal classification. The association says the Higher Court in Belgrade ordered the search on suspicion of calling for a violent change of the constitutional order, while Miketic speaks of a violent breach of the constitutional order and says prosecutors will give the classification on October 22. Police entered S. I.’s apartment with a search warrant, and his lawyer told N1 that all his computers and phones were seized.

Beograd ostaje posted on X in the morning: “Police have appeared at the addresses of several of our activists. At one they burst in with a search warrant. We will report back later.” After the newspaper Politika reported that S. I. had been arrested on suspicion of organizing and training boxers for alleged street clashes, the association said in a statement:

“We sharply deny these claims. We reject any assertion about organizing violence and alleged ‘preparations for war.’”

The same statement also says: “We will not stay silent, we will not retreat and we will not give in to the repressive pressure of the outgoing regime!”

Lawyer Rastko Naumov, who represents S. I., told N1:

“Classic intimidation. It seems to me that this organized criminal group in power is in a panic and wants once again, as before every major event, to frighten people, and I am simply very embittered and angry,” Naumov said.

Miketic said S. I. is a designer and that he was an observer on the association’s missions in Kosjeric, Bajina Basta and Mionica. The portal nova.rs carries his words as follows:

“This morning he was taken in on charges of violently breaching the constitutional order. They burst into his apartment and took all his electronic devices. What he asked is that no big panic be made over this, he asked everyone to meet tomorrow at Slavija, and of course that everyone votes,” Miketic said.

Asked by a reporter about the report that S. I. had been training boxers for riots, Miketic replied that he is an activist of many years who has never been arrested, and called the allegations “truly unfounded claims.”

What was reported unofficially, and what did the prosecution not mention?

Mondo, citing unofficial confirmation to Blic, reports that maps of Belgrade with marked points were found in S. I.’s house, and describes him as an activist of the far-right group Narodne Patrole (National Patrols). Mondo speaks of a house, while the association and Danas mention an apartment. The prosecution statement carried by Danas mentions neither maps nor Narodne Patrole. The sources contain no explicit response from the association to the claim about Narodne Patrole, and its rejection of organizing violence refers to the claims published by Politika.

The same day, M. A. from Vrnjacka Banja was arrested on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo. Katarina Obradovic, coordinator of the Student List, told N1 that police searched his house at around 5:30 a.m. and found only promotional material for the list’s stands.

In Novi Sad, five people were arrested on suspicion of planning violence and riots in Belgrade on election day. The sources diverge on who announced it: Danas and Insajder cite the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, which worked in coordination with the Novi Sad office and the Security Information Agency, while N1 mentions the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad.

The rally outside the Palace of Justice is set for October 22, the same day on which, according to Miketic, prosecutors are due to state the legal classification of the offense S. I. is accused of.