Author: Tijana Ilić

Joint statement of civil society organizations

We strongly condemn today’s invasion of the premises of non-governmental organizations by armed police without a proper court order.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade announced today that the reason for the police raid in four civil society organizations was the suspicions “that were raised against USAID in the previous period by the highest state officials of the USA in connection with the misuse of funds, possible money laundering and unintended spending of American taxpayers’ funds in Serbia”.

The chief public prosecutor of the Belgrade Criminal Court, Nenad Stefanović, said at a press conference that the US Department of Justice had been asked for help in obtaining documentation “that can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Serbia before the competent court” against non-governmental organizations.

He pointed out that there are grounds for doubting the legality of spending USAID funds, as indicated by “excessive concentration of funds on the accounts of several non-governmental organizations”, “non-transparent process of allocation of funds” and “absence of complete financial reports”.

Since 2000, the United States of America, through USAID and other American agencies, has granted development aid to Serbia in the total amount of over one billion dollars. The largest part of those funds ended up in the budget of the Republic of Serbia, and those funds were disposed of by the political majority through state institutions.

In 2024, Serbia received 40,144,406 US dollars from USAID, and most of the money went to the state budget. Civil society organizations and the media received the least amount of money.

USAID, among other things, donated 10 million dollars to the Government of Serbia for the “Better Energy” project, then 9.8 million dollars for reforms in the judiciary, 9 million dollars in the name of help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, 8.5 million dollars for the project for responsible government, which helped the development of the five-year strategic plan of the State Audit Institution and the Agency for the fight against corruption – these are just some of the direct donations to the account of state authorities.

It is also important to note that in the USA there are no investigations against non-governmental organizations.

It is clear that the aforementioned investigation by the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has nothing to do with USAID and the use of donations by civil society organizations. In this way, the authorities in Serbia are using USAID as an excuse for pressure and financial control of organizations that for years have been pointing out and proving abuses related to public tenders in Serbia, violations of the law and the electoral rights of citizens, and against which, in various ways, it otherwise leads a continuous negative campaign.

Of particular concern is the fact that the police searched the premises of the Civic Initiatives unconstitutionally, without an appropriate court order, with a malicious interpretation of an article of the law that cannot be applied in this case.

In this way, the government is openly abusing state resources to deal with those who point to abuses.

Instead of accusing these organizations of misusing USAID donations, competent institutions should investigate the spending of funds received from the state budget by phantom NGOs, for which there is evidence. The fact is that VJT has not acted on reports against these organizations for two years, and it has not determined how the money for voting was distributed in the call center of the Serbian Progressive Party, nor how the pro-government media spends the money they receive from contests. Please note that the authorities that announce tenders are obliged to submit financial reports on projects at the request of the information seeker, which they refuse to do. It is also clear that in Serbia the laws do not apply equally to everyone.

We demand that the harassment of civic organizations by abusing Serbian institutions be stopped immediately, that the government stop smear campaigns through the tabloids, and that those who really waste Serbian taxpayers’ funds be investigated, including all other funds that are allocated through state institutions.

Signatories:

Media Association (AM)

Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

Association of Online Media (AOM)

Autonomous Women’s Center (AŽC)

Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCBP)

Beogradski centar za ljudska prava (BCLJP)

Center for Contemporary Politics (CSP)

European Movement in Serbia (EPUS)

Fond B92

Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation (SĆF)

Citizens’ Initiatives (CI)

Branch union of culture, art and media “Nezavisnost”

Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR)

Komitet pravnika za ljudska prava (YUCOM)

Nezavisno društvo novinara Vojvodine (NDNV)

Nezavisno udruženje novinara Srbije (NUNS)

Partneri Srbija

Business association of the Association of Local and Independent Media “Local Press”

Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment (RERI)

SHARE Foundation

Serbian Philanthropic Forum

Belgrade, February 25, 2025.

Belgrade, February 25, 2025.

Around 9:20 this morning, twenty police officers from the Criminal Police Directorate broke into the premises of Civic Initiatives, stating that they had a warrant from the Prosecutor’s Office to check the organization’s work, but they did not want to show the search warrant.

At the same time, in the House of Human Rights, the police also raided the Center for Practical Politics, an organization that does not have a USAID project at all – despite the fact that the regime media Informer, RTS and Kurir claim that the raids are connected to USAID’s funding of civil society.

This is a serious attack on basic civil rights and the continuation of illegal pressure on civil society in Serbia. The governing structures are trying to implement mechanisms of intimidation and persecution without adopting the Law on Foreign Agents, which has entered the parliamentary procedure, but has not yet been formally adopted. This use of the police for political purposes represents gross abuse of state institutions to deal with dissidents and continued suppression of free and democratic action in Serbia.

Civic initiatives strongly condemn this attack on civil society organizations and demand that the competent authorities immediately explain the basis for such an action and stop abusing institutions for political purposes.

We expect the reaction of the domestic and international public to this reckless trampling of democratic values ​​and legal certainty.

Since the beginning of the student protests, we have publicly and unequivocally supported all their demands. Since the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad on November 1 last year, we have been deeply shaken by the suffering of innocent people, the violence we are witnessing, as well as the actions of institutions that, instead of doing their job, try to use various maneuvers to extinguish the student struggle. The students showed that this is not possible and that, until the institutions start working in accordance with their competences, the struggle will not stop. The rule of law and the responsibility of public office bearers must be the foundation of society’s functioning. However, Serbia has not been a rule of law country for a long time.

For years we have been witnessing pressures, attacks and threatening campaigns against civil society organizations, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and citizens who dare to oppose corruption and abuse of institutions. We are witnessing the abuse of security structures and other institutions for the purpose of illegal espionage of activists and mounting criminal and other processes with the aim of intimidating activists and journalists. For the first time, the pressure on civil society took an institutional form through the Draft Law on a special register of agents of foreign influence, in the same way as it is regulated in Russia and Belarus. In response to all this, the competent institutions are still silent and do not do what is in their job description – they do not protect citizens and the public good

These days we witnessed harassment, arrests, expulsion from the country and the ban on entry of activists, students and public figures from abroad. We are also witnessing the targeting of citizens who have dual citizenship, while convicted war criminals are sharing personal data of students and thereby endangering their safety.

We are also witnessing the government’s attempts to fake democracy and the inclusiveness of the policy-making process by formally involving civil society in various decision-making processes, the result of which, however good it may seem “on paper”, is not implemented in practice, and the standards of protection of human rights and freedoms have been in constant decline in recent years. Citizens and civil society do not have the opportunity to influence decisions about projects and activities that already have or may have a negative impact on the rights, property, health and safety of citizens. Public space and services, cultural heritage and natural resources are stolen from citizens every day with the active connivance of public institutions, public officials and the highest officials of this country.

Due to all of the above, and guided by the idea that the rule of law must finally prevail, we made the decision to suspend cooperation with the legislative and executive authorities in Serbia. By cooperation we consider any membership – both formal and informal – in the working groups of the Government and its ministries, as well as all other permanent and ad hoc working groups, councils and similar instruments of state bodies that imply our direct involvement.

We will not give up on returning the institutions of the Republic of Serbia to their responsibilities and citizens. We remain committed to our work and will continue to monitor all decision-making processes, regularly report to the public about their effects, and use all legal, administrative and other mechanisms of state bodies in the coming period. In this way, we will protect human rights,

report crimes and misdemeanors, point out harmful decisions and actions, and use all available mechanisms in order to protect the public interest, human rights, freedoms, health, safety and property of citizens, in accordance with the goals, visions and missions of our organizations.

In Belgrade, 04.02.2024.

Signatories:

A11 – Initiative for economic and social rights

Alternative center for girls

ASTRA-Action against human trafficking

Media Association

Online Media Association

Autonomous Women’s Center

Belgrade Center for Security Policy

Belgrade Center for Human Rights

Center for Contemporary Politics

Crta

Evropski pokret u Srbiji

FemPlatz

Građanske inicijative

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

Youth Initiative for Human Rights

Initiative for the Rights of Persons with Mental Disabilities MDRI-S

Collective Ministry of Space

Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights – YUCOM

International Aid Network IAN

National Coalition for Decentralization

Independent Association of Journalists of Vojvodina

Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia

Partners for Democratic Changes Serbia

PIN – Psychosocial Innovation Network

Polekol – Organization for political ecology

Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment – RERI

SHARE Foundation

Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation