15 Aug Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: August 2 – August 15, 2024

Posted at 11:16h in News, Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass by

Belgrade, August 15, 2024

Violations of basic freedoms in Serbia

August 2 – August 15, 2024

 

Arrests, imprisonments, detentions and targeting of environmental activists marked the previous period. Lithium mining in the Jadar Valley has once again become a major topic after the decision of the Constitutional Court to annul the Government Decree from 2022 on stopping the Rio Tinto project. It turned out that the activists’ suspicions were justified and that the 2022 Decree was passed only to appease the citizens before that year’s elections. Now the highest state officials have reactivated in lobbying for the Rio Tinto project, a lobbying that also involves targeting all those who advocate for the
preservation of the environment and who oppose lithium mining.

On Saturday, August 10, a protest was held in Belgrade against the intention to mine lithium in the Jadar valley. In the days before and after the protest, the activists were exposed to different types of pressure and threats. The highlight was the arrest of three activists: Ivan Bjelić, Nikola Ristić and Jevđenije Julijan Dimitrijević. Imprisonment for a crime they did not commit, and later release due to strong public pressure, is the result of a weeks-long campaign against them by government officials and pro-government tabloids. The main goal of the arrests was to intimidate and discourage citizens from further
participating in environmental protests, and the mechanisms used by the authorities are an attempt to limit basic civil liberties and rights.

A few days before the protest, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević insulted Mila Pajić, an activist of the “Stav” group, in a post on the X platform, accusing her of working to “destroy the state” and “bringing out the worst at the expense of the Serbian people and our homeland.” This kind of violent language most directly threatens the safety of the student, who was repeatedly exposed to physical attacks due to her activism.

The huge number of people who took to the streets to oppose the Rio Tinto project apparently worried the government, which decided to deal with environmental activists by all means.

You can find more details about these cases in the full report below.