A new website titled “Testimonies of Police Brutality” was unveiled at the University of Novi Sad campus on Thursday evening, documenting violence inflicted by police on protesters outside the Faculty of Philosophy during the night of September 5–6.
The launch was accompanied by an art installation, with LED screens across the campus displaying first-hand accounts collected for the online archive — a digital record that serves both as evidence of abuse and a symbol of resistance.
Vladan Joler, former professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and one of the project’s authors, said the initiative was created because state institutions failed to act.
“We are doing the job the state should be doing — this should be the responsibility of investigators and prosecutors. These stories are both proof and a form of collective therapy,” Joler said.
He emphasized that the database ensures the victims’ testimonies remain permanently preserved, turning them into a form of protest against repression.
Smiljana Milinkov, head of the Department of Media Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy and one of the contributors, noted that “never in history has there been a police occupation of a university lasting 40 days.”
“This is a testimony of the occupation of our university — of the injuries and of our defiance. Our message is clear: You will never intimidate us. We are not afraid — this is our mark, the mark of resistance,” Milinkov declared.
During the event, several victims of police violence shared their stories publicly, offering powerful accounts of physical and psychological abuse by police officers.
Following the September 5 protests — sparked by the violation of university autonomy and police intrusion into university premises — organizers collected 280 testimonies from students, professors, and citizens who were allegedly subjected to beatings, tear gas, and unlawful detentions.
The project was carried out by the Academic Network “Free University” and “Campus – Zone of Freedom”, with support from the Center for Cultural Decontamination, SHARE Lab, and the student collective Blokada Info.
Police officially withdrew from the Rectorate on October 1, but activists say their weeks-long presence on campus will remain a historical example of state repression against academia.
