Attacks, intimidation and violence towards peaceful anti-government protesters, journalists and students have escalated across Serbia in recent weeks. This includes mass arrests, detentions of protesters, including minors, violent attacks, police brutality, filming and surveillance, chasing of civilians with police vehicles, arrests of opposition politicians and attacks against journalists, and medical experts providing medical aid to protesters. Police officers often used excessive force, some of whom were masked and lacked any form of identification.
On 27 June, one day before a mass protest in Belgrade, six individuals were detained on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a measure used previously against protesters in March. Six activists of the Movement of Free Citizens and the organisation Students Against Authoritarian Government (STAV) were arbitrarily imprisoned in March and accused of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order by allegedly planning an attack on the Serbian Parliament and the state-owned radio and television broadcaster. Three of the activists were formally released in May, but continue to be under house arrest, while the three others remain detained.
Meanwhile, three ruling SNS party affiliates who violently attacked a student in Novi Sad in January 2025, breaking her jaw and inflicting other serious injuries, were released, with one placed under house arrest. On 3 July, President Aleksandar Vucic pardoned the violent activists.
On 28 June, a 21-year-old student was brutally beaten, kicked, and hit in the face by police during the mass protest. As a result, he suffered severe injuries, including a fractured upper jaw, nose, cheekbone, as well as skull and eye damage. He then spent several hours without proper medical attention, remaining inside a police vehicle until early morning. When taken to the Zemun hospital, his legs were cuffed to the hospital bed and was under police supervision him while he awaits several surgeries. Despite his critical injuries, the Higher Court in Belgrade has remanded him to 30 days in pre-trial custody, without a hearing or consideration of his medical condition.
