Military analyst Aleksandar Radić is the latest in a series of individuals who have left Serbia fearing, as he explained, for their own safety or the safety of their families.
“We deny that he is on the run; there are no grounds for detention,” his lawyer Stefan Ćorda told Radio Free Europe, announcing an appeal against the detention decision.
The prosecution and the court believe that he is a fugitive, so in addition to criminal charges and detention, he also faces an arrest warrant.
Radić is accused of preparing an act against the constitutional order and security by making “false claims” that authorities used a so-called sound cannon during a massive anti-government protest on March 15, 2025, in Belgrade.
“And how do we know that these are false?” asks Vladica Ilić, a lawyer from the non-governmental organization Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCLJP).
Ilić raises this question considering that, as he says, no procedure has been completed to determine what was used on March 15.
The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights has received several reports from citizens who complained that they experienced consequences from the use of a sound device during the protest.
At the same time, the activist group Stav announced that Interpol had rejected the request of Serbian authorities to issue arrest warrants for six activists and students from Novi Sad, believing that the case was political in nature.
They have been in exile for more than a year, while in Serbia they are accused of preparing acts against the constitutional order and security of Serbia.
Branislav Đorđević, one of them, told Radio Free Europe that in a way he feels like he is in political exile.
“Because we are physically displaced from Serbia and we have no opportunity to participate in political life.”
Due to frequent death threats, writer, columnist and co-author of a satirical podcast Marko Vidojković left Serbia with his wife in March 2023.
“I am definitely in political exile because of the regime’s political decision to destroy me and endanger my life because I dared to criticize them,” Vidojković told Radio Free Europe.
The Independent Electronic Media Association (ANEM) announced that four journalists left Serbia in the first half of the year due to “pressure from authorities and pro-regime media”.
The association stated that two other journalists had left the country before them, based on assessments by journalists’ and media associations “that they could no longer practice journalism safely in their own country.”
The satirical-humorous show “Mental Exercise” is also broadcast from Slovenia, because its authors Srđan Jovanović and Marko Stepanović, as they explained during the show, do not feel safe working in Belgrade.
Nova Television continued broadcasting the program.
The European Union did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s question on whether it considers these cases a worrying trend regarding freedom of expression, the rule of law and civil liberties.
However, a May document from this year by the European Commission, which evaluates progress in rule-of-law chapters, states that Serbia has made no key progress in the areas of rule of law, the fight against corruption and media freedom.
At the time, among other things, concern was expressed over the growing number of attacks against journalists, and pressure on civil society and the media was noted.
