Serbia says Russian investigators found that sonic devices were not used

17/4/2025 6:22

Russian investigators

have found that sonic weapons were not used by Serbian

authorities to disperse a mass protest in March, Serbia's

President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday, after Europe

expressed concern over allegations of their use.



Last month, the Serbian authorities invited the Federal

Security Service (FSB) of Russia, a close ally, to investigate

what hundreds of anti-government protesters in Belgrade on March

15 said was a powerful sound that made them flee and

incapacitated some of them.



Top officials from the EU's executive Commission and rights

organisations urged Vucic to investigate the alleged incidents,

which would breach Serbian law. He pledged to look into it.



"A categorical conclusion can be made that the ... type of

acoustic devices owned by the Serbian police authorities were

not used," Vucic said in a televised address, citing the FSB

report.



The protests against Vucic, a populist who has been in power

as prime minister or president since 2013, have been the biggest

in decades. Serbia's parliament voted in a political novice seen

as loyal to Vucic on Wednesday as prime minister after the

protests led his predecessor to resign.



The Serbian authorities denied possessing such sonic

devices, until Interior Minister Ivica Dacic admitted that

police had bought Long-Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) - used by

law enforcement agencies and militaries in a number of

countries, including the United States, Australia, Greece and

Japan - from the U.S. in 2021. Police later said the devices had

been bought to relay verbal messages to crowds.



Sonic weapons employ extreme sound to incapacitate targets.

They can damage ears and cause headaches and nausea. Serbian law

does not allow their use against civilians.



Vucic said he will seek criminal responsibility for those

who accused authorities of using a sonic weapon and that the

Russian report had indicated that unidentified black-clad people

from the crowd had staged the incident. "Shame on you, you

miserable liars," he said.



Expert organisations said evidence about their use on March

15 were inconclusive, but suggested that an LRAD or an

experimental vortex cannon could have been used.



Serbia balances its pro-Western policies and EU accession

bid with ties with Russia, a traditional Slavic and Orthodox

Christian ally. In March, Serbia's former deputy-Prime Minister

Aleksandar Vulin said Russia's spy services had helped Belgrade

to try to thwart protests.



Vucic said he plans to take part in the festivities in

Moscow to celebrate the May 9 victory parade with Russia's

leader Vladimir Putin.