07 Aug Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass: July 25 – August 7, 2025

Posted at 13:03h in News, Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass by

Belgrade, August 7, 2025

Violations of basic freedoms in Serbia

July 25 – August 7, 2025

 

A serious incident occurred in Novi Pazar when a group of violent, masked men broke into the State University of Novi Pazar in the early morning hours and began beating and throwing students out. The police who arrived in front of the faculty did not protect the attacked students, and after the reaction of citizens began to arrest those gathered.

The police passively watched an attack by SNS supporters on the citizens of Kraljevo and New Belgrade. Police did not protect a journalist from an attack by an SNS supporter in New Belgrade, and during the operation to prevent a highway blockade, a member of the gendarmerie personally attacked a media crew.

In recent years, we have witnessed an intensification of the practice of arresting and detaining citizens and activists who peacefully protest or use social networks to call for protests and express their dissatisfaction with the current government. Over 400 arrests and detentions have been recorded since the beginning of student and civic protests. For this reason, in the upcoming period our report Three Freedoms Under the Magnifying Glass will include a special section in which we will report on the number of those arrested and/or detained at various protests across Serbia. The number of those arrested at student, ecological, and other protests will be shown, as well as the number of those who were arrested or detained for posts on social networks criticizing the current government. Our goal is the systematic collection of data on the extent of this form of repression, as well as documenting and informing the public about the violation of freedom of expression and assembly carried out in this way.

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