Serbian Prosecutor's Office Targets Media and Students Over March Sound Cannon Protest

Serbia’s Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) announced an investigation into the March 15 incident in Belgrade where an unusual “sound cannon” caused thousands of protestors to flee the streets. The office claims the event may have been pre‑planned to incite unrest and threatens a change to the constitutional order.

The prosecutor’s statement accused journalists who reported on the incident of “simulating the sound cannon” and called for their arrest, labeling them as part of an “organized media group” working for the state’s enemies. In response, the Coalition for Media Freedom – a coalition of Serbian media associations – denounced the move as a systematic campaign to intimidate and suppress independent reporting.

Separately, the VJT singled out students, calling them “blockaders” responsible for the alleged simulation and threatening them, along with journalists and citizens who reported health effects, with charges of attempting a civil war. Prosecutor Miodrag Marković appeared on RTS to repeat these threats.

Both articles characterize the prosecutor’s actions as politically motivated, further eroding public trust and intensifying concerns over press freedom and civil liberties in Serbia.