On March 14, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad announced that it had requested the police to gather facts and evidence to assess potential criminal liability regarding an audio recording shared by pro-regime media. This recording allegedly features activists planning to instigate riots during a student protest in Belgrade.

According to the prosecutor’s office, “In accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, we have submitted a request to the Criminal Police Directorate to collect necessary information in order to clarify all facts and circumstances surrounding the event, as well as to gather evidence to determine all essential elements of the criminal offense and the criminal liability of the involved individuals. The public will be informed in a timely and regular manner.”

The Prosecutor’s Office called for the maintenance of public order and peace, stating that any form of violence will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

A show, produced by several private television stations on Thursday night, aired footage reportedly recorded at the Novi Sad office of the opposition Free Citizens’ Movement, suggesting that meeting participants were strategizing on how to impose the idea of a transitional government in Belgrade on Saturday while inciting violence.

Students currently blockading facilities distanced themselves from organizations and parties reportedly planning violence at a rally in Belgrade, scheduled for March 15, as indicated in a broadcast by national television stations.

On their Instagram account, the students in the blockade expressed, “We are deeply disappointed and appalled by this kind of action from organizations that claimed to represent student interests.”

They emphasized that they are not involved in political machinations and will not permit the student movement to be used for “others’ interests.”

“The proposals made have no connection to students or our struggle,” the students stated.

Earlier, students from the Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy also clarified their stance against these views.

Students who have been blockading faculties across Serbia for over three months, demanding accountability for the 15 fatalities from a canopy collapse in Novi Sad, have called for a protest in Belgrade on March 15.

So far, large protests and blockades have taken place in Novi Sad, Kragujevac, and Niš.

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