Belgrade: Did Serbian authorities use sound weapons in Belgrade?

Representative image (Figure Credit: AP)

Throughout the day Saturday, hundreds of thousands of citizens marched through the city Belgrade The biggest student rally Serbia Has seen since the onset of protests last November.
A large -scale peaceful gathering entered their seventh hour when the students asked the crowd to inspect the 15 -minute silence that 15 people were honored, who were killed when the canopy was killed to enter. Novi Sad The railway station collapsed on 1 November.
People burnt darkness with their phones, and everyone fell silent.
Then, exactly 7:11 pm, suddenly came out from anywhere as a loud noise in the form of nervousness, and people started running away.
Some videos shared on social media divide groups of people suddenly into two or nervous people, as they were being followed.
Rapid nervousness and disorientation
“It looked like a crazy rumble, such as a jet flying overhead,” Miroslav look Told DW. “But it was not loudly – like a distant, threatening noise.”
“It seemed that an airplane was descending, the President was coming from the direction of the palace,” Duson Simin,
“I had a feeling that huge armored vehicles were coming,” Bojana Milaovic Told DW.
“It felt like some invisible wave that divides us left and right,” remembered Jelna Ristnovic“The eye could not see anything, but the body felt intense nervousness and disorientation.”
A loud, strange noise and vibration
DW spoke to about a dozen people, who were on the streets in Belgrade city on Saturday evening. Each of them described a brief, loud, strange noise and listening to the vibration, making them feel as if the danger was coming.
“We could not escape from this; we didn’t know what to do,” said Dusan Simin. “You didn’t know if something would fall on your head or if you would hit the side. We fell on each other. My wife hit her head on a pole. I was looking at him but could not help. We still feel uncomfortable.”
Jelena Ristnovic was also strayed: “When this happened, I spontaneously pulled my jacket’s hood to my head,” he said. “My feet gave way for a while.”
Miroslav Lukik said, “I was really scared, and I ran about 20-30 meters.” “When a man started shouting next to me,” They could not kill all of us, “I came to my senses and started looking around to see what was happening.”
Bojana Milavik reported to feel confused and nervous: “I didn’t know where to hide, and I felt as if someone was following us,” he said. “When we stopped and saw that nothing was wrong, we saw each other and asked what happened.”
Was a sound cannon deployed?
Milavic is not alone in this: Everyone in Serbia wants to know what it was that disrupted the 15 -minute silence in Belgrade on Saturday.
Military expert alexander Radic One of the first people to suggest was that a so -called “sound cannon” was used against the protesters.
“People’s reactions show that they were influenced by Infrastound,” he told DW. “Some people have symptoms of such a situation. A piece of indirect proof is the fact that the pro-government supporters gathered in Penirski Park were given a umbrella to protect each from low-existing sounds.”
This theory is supported by the professor Joran Maqsimovic The Faculty of Dramatic Arts at the University of Arts in Belgrade, which teaches courses related to sound.
“It is basically just a regular speaker, but is specifically directed and highly designed. It has a very long distance up to several kilometers,” he explained to DW.
Maksimovic says that music, speech, flying jet can be played using a sound effect or a specially generated frequency signal using this speaker.
Or was it a vortex cannon?
However, experts at the International Organization Earshot argue that based on their analysis of videos provided by the Center for Research, Transparency and Accounts (CRTA), the sound “is corresponding to the noise produced by a vortex ring gun or vortex cannon.”
This weapon, they say, removes the gas from a cylinder at high speed, which produces the same noise as a jet engine.
Maksimovic, however, suspects this theory because, they say, such devices are large and unknowingly, while “sound cannon” comes in various models and can be operated by one person.
Will the use of such devices be legal?
Radic claimed its principle that Serbia bought a sound cannon in 2022 from the American company origin.
Radic said in an interview with DW, “It was sold to an Israeli firm by a US company, which sold it to a private company in Serbia, who then sold it to an enterprise owned by a state, which is responsible for the purchase of strategic resources, Jugoimmort,” Radiic said in a interview with DB It is confidential.
But did the authorities have the right to use such equipment against the protesters? Radic argues that they were not, as it is not in the list of devices designated for mob control in Serbia law on internal affairs.
The government tried to amend this law in 2022, but the changes were not adopted.
“But the real problem with validity is that no prior warnings were given and there was no reason for the application of such equipment,” Radic said. “You have to warns before implementing any police powers. The second issue is that this device was used when people were resting.”
Vucic dismisses claims as a lie
So far, all Serbian officials have denied that any acoustic weapon was used on Saturday.
Serbian President Alexander Wusik has said that neither the Serbian army nor the military police special unit “Cobra” has a sound cannon.
He has promised to investigate those who claim that they are lying about the use of such weapons and accuse organizations such as CRTA and earshot of lying.
“CRTA is a non-governmental organization that is largely funded by British, American, Swedish, Swedish and other sources,” Vucic posted on Instagram. “You won’t beat Serbia with a lie. We will not let you run away with your lies about acoustic cannon.”
Former prime minister Milos VusianThose who resigned in late January, said that the government is officially ready to investigate the claims in the US Federal Investigation Bureau and Russia’s Federal Security Service, FSB, Serbia.
Meanwhile, pro -government media security service claims are reported that the panic was due to the student marshal. Students have denied such principles.
People want medical help
In the days after the rally, many sought medical help for the ongoing symptoms.
Bojana Milavic told DW, “I went to the doctor on Sunday because I felt weak and uncomfortable.” “Other people in the waiting room were saying that they were having dizziness, difficulty breathing and their pulses were running. Many people said that their ears had a problem of ringing and listening to problems” she said.
Media reports indicate that police officers have visited health centers and doctors’ surgery in response to the complaints of citizens, collected statements and photographed documents.
Two doctors confirmed DW that the police had come, but said they were very busy with the patients what the officials were really doing.
The wife of Dusan Simin, who hit her head on a pole during anarchy, received medicine and was sent to a psychiatrist.
Simin itself has planned to take legal action. “We will seek justice,” he said, “because whatever happened was not really normal.”