The political standoff over the alleged domestic deployment of long-range acoustic devices escalated on Wednesday evening, July 1, 2026. Zdravko Ponoš, the leader of the opposition Serbia Center (SRCE) party and a Member of Parliament, leveled sharp legal accusations against the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) in Belgrade and its Chief Prosecutor, Nenad Stefanović.
Ponoš’s counterattack follows his formal interrogation by the Administration of Criminal Police (UKP). He is the first opposition MP to face targeted police questioning regarding his public allegations that the state deployed a “sound cannon” against civilian protesters during political unrest in mid-March.
Leaking Official Documents to Tabloids
Ponoš vehemently dismissed recent statements from the VJT accusing opposition politicians of “targeting” individual prosecutors. Instead, Ponoš argued that the judiciary is actively colluding with state-aligned tabloids to intimidate critics.
“Prosecutor Vladimir Živković violated the law by allowing, failing to prevent, or failing to sanction the fact that UKP police officers acting under his direct command delivered the official minute of my interrogation to the pro-regime tabloid Informer just minutes after I signed it,” Ponoš revealed on social media.
Citing Article 43 of the Criminal Procedure Code (ZKP), the SRCE leader reminded Chief Prosecutor Stefanović that the judiciary is legally responsible for directing pre-investigative proceedings and ensuring police operations remain lawful. Ponoš noted that the VJT has shown zero interest in investigating the police leak or summoning Informer editor Dragan J. Vučićević for questioning.
The “Sound Cannon” Timeline of Contradictions
The core of the dispute rests on whether the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) utilized a sonic weapon on civilian crowds. Ponoš lambasted the VJT for automatically adopting the executive branch’s narrative as objective fact.
- Who Owns the Truth?: “Where does the VJT get the idea that it automatically knows the truth about the use of the sound cannon? I claim it was used, and Aleksandar Vučić claims it wasn’t. Since when does the VJT hold a monopoly on the truth—and specifically, Vučić’s version of the truth?” Ponoš questioned.
- The Shifting Government Defense: Ponoš outlined a chronological chain of changing official statements issued by state leaders since the spring:
The State's Shifting Sonic Weapon Narrative
├── Phase 1: Total Denial ──> "The device was never purchased; MUP does not own it."
├── Phase 2: Storage Myth ──> "We own it, but it has never left the military warehouses."
├── Phase 3: Photo Leak ──> "It was parked outside Parliament, but it was never turned on."
└── Phase 4: Modification ──> Dačić orders the weapon's frequency-harming mod blocked for future use.
Demands for High-Level Interrogations
Ponoš emphasized that despite being caught in multiple public contradictions, top state officials have completely avoided judicial scrutiny. Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers who report the hardware’s presence face swift judicial blowback.
“I haven’t lied once, yet the prosecutor’s office summons me and claims the absolute truth lies with those who have been repeatedly caught lying on this very topic,” Ponoš stated. “If this were a legitimate, blind investigation, shouldn’t Aleksandar Vučić, Ivica Dačić, and technical director Vasiljević be the ones sitting in the UKP interrogation room right now?”
The case has amplified anxieties among parliamentary watchdogs, who warn that extending police interrogations to active MPs over their speech represents a dangerous expansion of state-sponsored legislative repression in Serbia.
