Biljana Đorđević, co-chair of the Green-Left Front (ZLF), told FoNet that in a meeting with monitors from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), she highlighted police brutality, repression, and arrests of citizens, as well as the suspension of the gender equality law at the request of the Ombudsman, whom she described as acting as a “protector of the regime and of police violence.”
Đorđević stressed that, along with opposition colleagues, she pointed out systematic efforts by authorities to restrict democratic space, free expression, and citizens’ right to assemble. She emphasized that repression extends through the police, with fabricated legal cases against activists and students, and attacks on citizens using sound cannons.
She also noted a lack of trust in the electoral process and parliamentary obstruction, citing that Prime Minister Ana Brnabić blocked an opposition-initiated vote of no confidence.
In her discussions with PACE monitors Viktoria Thiel and Junus Emre, Đorđević spoke about the absence of independent institutions in Serbia, including the role of the Ombudsman in concealing cases of violence against LGBT people rather than processing them or informing the public.
She highlighted the suspension of the gender equality law, despite Serbia being a signatory to the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women, as part of broader concerns regarding democratic accountability and human rights.
