{"id":18915,"date":"2025-04-23T13:00:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/?p=18915"},"modified":"2025-04-23T13:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:16:16","slug":"serbia-end-chilling-crackdown-on-peaceful-dissent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/2025\/04\/23\/serbia-end-chilling-crackdown-on-peaceful-dissent.html","title":{"rendered":"Serbia: End chilling crackdown on peaceful dissent"},"content":{"rendered":"

PEN Belarus joins the\u00a0statement<\/a> of PEN International about Serbia.<\/p>\n

\u2018PEN International urges the Serbian authorities to end their alarming onslaught on peaceful expression, including against writers, journalists, academics and activists who dare hold the powerful to account. We stand with the brave people of Serbia and urge the authorities to immediately stop all acts of intimidation, repression, and reprisals, and to uphold fundamental freedoms,\u2019 <\/em>said Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a022 April 2025: The Serbian authorities must urgently uphold the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful protest and assembly, PEN International and Serbian PEN said today, as the ongoing crackdown in the wake of mass demonstrations continues unabated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serbia has been rocked by student-led protests<\/a> since November 2024, when the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad, northern Serbia, killed<\/a> 16 people. Many blamed the authorities for the disaster, alleging corruption and incompetence. Tens of thousands of people subsequently took to the streets in near-daily protests, urging transparency and accountability. Classes in universities have been suspended for months, with lawyers, professors, and cultural figures amongst those joining the strikes.<\/p>\n

As documented<\/a> by PEN International and Serbian PEN, the Serbian authorities responded to the protests by cracking down on critics and independent media. Government officials and pro-government outlets have falsely portrayed<\/a> the student-led movement as violent and published<\/a> some protesters\u2019 personal data, jeopardising their safety. Meanwhile, calls<\/a> for an independent investigation into whether security forces used a sonic weapon against protesters in Belgrade on 15 March 2025 remain unanswered.<\/p>\n

PEN International and Serbian PEN denounce the deterioration of the human rights situation in Serbia in recent months, with the authorities relentlessly targeting<\/a> the education system and expanding the use of politically motivated arrests and prosecutions to intimidate and silence critics. The authorities and pro-government groups remain accused<\/a> of escalating violence during the largely peaceful protests, threatening further violations of rights.<\/p>\n

Independent journalists continue to face attacks, verbal threats and intimidation by public officials, law enforcement officials and individuals. The Mapping Media Freedom platform recorded<\/a> 74 instances of media freedom violations and attacks against journalists since the protests began. On 10 April 2025, writer and journalist Dejan Ili\u0107 was detained<\/a> in Belgrade and later released on alleged charges of \u2018causing panic and disorder\u2019 for a comment he made on the protests in a TV show on 29 March. His detention sent a chilling warning to fellow journalists who dare speak out about the protests that they could be next. PEN International and Serbian PEN urge the Serbian authorities not to prosecute him.<\/p>\n

PEN International and Serbian PEN condemn the Serbian authorities\u2019 mounting onslaught on civil society, after the offices of five civil society organisations in Belgrade were raided on 25 February 2025 over the alleged misuse of funds received from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).\u202fThe move was widely seen by national and international organisations as an act of intimidation<\/a>. PEN International and Serbian PEN further renew calls for investigation<\/a> into the alleged widespread use of advanced phone spyware by the authorities to unlawfully target journalists and activists.<\/p>\n

PEN International and Serbian PEN call upon the Serbian authorities to urgently uphold fundamental rights, and to ensure that journalists, writers, academics and activists can speak out and inform without fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n

Note to editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information about PEN International\u2019s work on Serbia please see Identity on Trial: Persecution and Resistance<\/em><\/a> \u2013 its Case List 2025.<\/p>\n

For further details contact Aur\u00e9lia Dondo,<\/strong> Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International:\u202fAurelia.dondo@pen-international.org<\/a><\/p>\n

For media queries, please contact\u202fSabrina Tucci<\/strong>, PEN International Communications and Campaigns Manager,\u202f\u202fSabrina.Tucci@pen-international.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PEN Belarus joins the\u00a0statement of PEN International about Serbia. \u2018PEN International urges the Serbian authorities to end their alarming onslaught on peaceful expression, including against writers, journalists, academics and activists who dare hold the powerful to account. We stand with the brave people of Serbia and urge the authorities to immediately stop all acts of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":18916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidarity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18918,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18915\/revisions\/18918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/penbelarus.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}