Brnabic: Activists in Novi Sad detained for planning terrorist actions, civil war

Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic said Thursday that activists in Novi Sad were detained because they had planned “terrorist actions, the initiation of civil war, and endangering the life” of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

“They had planned to manipulate people who attended the blockaders’ protests because they knew that the majority of those people were not in favor of starting a civil war and were not for violence,” Brnabic told the pro-regime Happy TV.

She said that the audio recording of a meeting between activists from the Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) and the Students against Authoritarian Government (STAV) organization, which was broadcast on several television stations on March 14, was made by one of those activists who “handed it over to state authorities.” She added that it was “problematic” that security services had not made the recording themselves.

Six activists and students from the PSG and STAV have been in custody for 60 days after being charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order. On Tuesday, the court extended their detention for an additional 30 days.

Another six STAV activists have been charged with the same offense. They were abroad at the time of the arrests and remain outside the country to this day.

All defendants were charged based on an illegally made audio recording of a conversation that was broadcast on pro-regime television stations on March 14.

The defendants’ lawyers have repeatedly claimed that the Serbian Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) illegally wiretapped the conversation and added that the audio recording cannot be legally valid evidence in the proceedings.