site.btaSerbian Interior Ministry: No Evidence of Sonic Cannon Use at Belgrade Protest

Serbian authorities said Thursday there is no evidence of a sonic cannon being used against the thousands of demonstrators in Belgrade who took part in an anti-system protest called by students on March 15.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said the US manufacturer Genasys, from which the Interior Ministry purchased warning devices for demonstrators in 2021, confirmed that its LRAD450XL product does not support the system representing a sonic cannon with air or sound waves, Serbian media wrote.

“What else is needed to stop the lies, apart from claiming that even the manufacturers do not know what they produce and sell,” Dacic said, adding that in his view “this is the end of all lies and deceit.”

According to Dacic, who also serves as Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, the devices purchased four years ago are technical means of amplifying sound to inform larger groups of people over greater distances and are registered as audio equipment, that is, a more powerful loudspeaker.

Dacic said Serbian police have never used a sonic cannon, “unlike many other countries that sponsor protests in Serbia.”

On social media, Genasys recalled that the Serbian nongovernmental organisation Crta recently announced experts from the NGO Earshot analysed recordings of the alleged “sound cannon” at the March 15 protest in Belgrade and concluded the noise came from devices such as a Vortex Ring Gun or Vortex Cannon.

“This can cause electromagnetic interference to devices such as hearing aids, as confirmed by witness reports from the protests. If it were a vortex cannon, these recordings would have been made at a distance of over 700 metres. At that distance, the weapon’s blast is no longer heard, only the whistling of the pressure wave as it spreads from the launch point to the gathered crowd, causing mass panic,” Earshot’s statement said.

In its post, Genasys said it would no longer comment on the Belgrade case.

A few days after the protest, which took place on a Saturday in the Serbian capital, opposition MP Marinika Tepic wrote on social media about two types of devices, one of which is the LRAD450XL, purchased by the Serbian Interior Ministry, and questioned the official claim that they could only reproduce sounds like a siren.

“Any sound can be recorded and uploaded to these devices, for instance, the noise of an aircraft or different sounds that the citizens at the protest in front of parliament had in mind,” Tepic said, as quoted by Serbian media.

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people contacted several NGOs in Serbia to report witnessing an incident during the protest that caused panic, disorientation, dizziness, and other complaints among participants, Serbian media said.

Fifty-six people at the Belgrade protest were admitted to a hospital in Zemun the following day, with 30% diagnosed with hearing damage, regional broadcaster N1 reported.

On Thursday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s rapporteurs for Serbia, Axel Schäfer and Viktoria Tiblom, said they are concerned about rising tensions in the country and allegations of sonic cannons being used at peaceful demonstrations, Serbian media wrote. They called on the Serbian authorities to “avoid using violence” and address the protesters’ demands. They also said they are ready to visit Serbia and discuss the situation with Serbian officials.

Social tensions in the country have mounted since a tragedy in Novi Sad, where on November 1 last year 15 people lost their lives when the newly renovated roof of the city’s railway station collapsed.

For more than four months, ongoing protests—organised mainly by students blocking over 60 faculties nationwide—have accused the government and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic of corruption and nepotism.

Due to this unrest, two ministers in the cabinet resigned, although they said they did not feel responsible for the Novi Sad tragedy.

The prosecution service filed charges against 13 individuals, including former Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic, who stepped down.

Prime Minister Milos Vucevic also resigned, and the 30-day constitutional deadline for forming a new government officially began on Thursday.