Civil initiatives strongly condemn the repressive measures implemented by the state in Užice and demand the immediate release of seven citizens, including a student, a professor, a councilor and a lawyer, as well as other protest participants. We request the competent institutions to suspend further proceedings against them, as well as to urgently review the legality of the imposed detention measures.
Seven people were arrested for participating in the blockades organized throughout Serbia after June 28 – a legitimate form of civil protest. Among them are student Pavle Cicvarić, professor Branko Nikolić, lawyer and councilor Radovan Novaković, director of Libergraf Vladan Sinđić and several citizens. Today, they were remanded in custody for up to 30 days. Detention was ordered in absentia to the professor, who ended up in the hospital after his arrest. Instead of applying the laws, the state decided to punish them – with detention.
Such a decision grossly violates basic human rights, domestic laws and international standards. According to the current legislation, detention can be ordered only in exceptional cases – when there is reasonable suspicion that a person will escape, repeat the crime or influence witnesses. None of that has been proven. The decision to detain seven citizens is against the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, Articles 9 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. Detention must not be a means of intimidating citizens.
The political message of this behavior is also clear: the regime is trying to intimidate all social groups that show resistance. Those arrested are not hooligans – they are people who represent the pillars of a society: education, law, local democracy, critical thought and active citizenship. By imprisoning them, the state is imprisoning the idea that citizens have the right to protest, express and act freely.
We call on the Delegation of the European Union, the OSCE mission and all international organizations that advocate for human rights to make an urgent announcement regarding this case. At a time when Serbia claims to share European values, it must not apply an authoritarian form of government.
The whole company is in custody in Užice. And that’s why we won’t be silent.