Belgrade, March 6, 2025
Violation of basic human rights in Serbia
February 14 – March 6, 2025
The deep political crisis that Serbia is in is also reflected in numerous violations of basic freedoms recorded in the observed period.
In Belgrade, on February 25, members of the Criminal Police Directorate, on the order of the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, raided the premises of five non-governmental organizations: Civic Initiatives, CRTA, Trag Foundation, Center for Practical Politics, and the Umbrella Organization of the Youth of Serbia. The Prosecutor’s Office ordered the collection of information from these pro-democracy non-governmental organizations, all because of statements made by American officials against USAID. The raid comes at a time when the government is trying to present the current protests in Serbia as an attempt at a “color revolution” and after a months-long hunt by officials and tabloids on civil society, which loudly points to all human rights violations and irregularities in the work of the authorities.
The Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Loznica filed an indictment against the activist of the “Ne damo Jadar” association Zlatko Kokanović from Gornji Nedeljice, in connection with the blockade of the railroad crossing from last year, and requested a prison sentence of 14 months. This is the first indictment related to environmental protests against lithium mining, and the proposed sentence in Zatvor is a serious danger for all citizens who faced arrests and detentions due to their activism during the previous year.
For more information about these and other cases recorded in the previous period, see the full report below: