In the largest student march Serbia has seen since the start of the protests in November, hundreds of thousands of people marched through city Belgrade all day Saturday.
Students called for a 15-minute silence in memory of the 15 people who died when the dome over the gate to Novi Sad railroad station collapsed on November 1st, and the largely peaceful collecting had only entered its sixth hour.
With their devices, individuals lit up the shadows, and all sat still.
Therefore, just before 7 p.m., a loud sound suddenly appeared out of nowhere and people began to flee.
Some social media videos feature individuals abruptly separating into groups or escaping in a panic as though they are being chased.
powerful agitation and confusion
According to Miroslav Lukic,” It sounded like a mad rumbling, like a jet flying overhead.” However, it wasn’t excessively loud; it was more like a detached, threatening ominous sounds.
Dusan Simin said,” It sounded like an airliner was getting, coming from the direction of the National Palace.”
Bojana Milanovic told DW,” I had the idea that enormous armored cars were approaching.”
Jelena Ristanovic recalled that “it felt like some unknown storm that split us to the left and right.” The physique felt a lot of worry and dizziness, but the vision couldn’t see anything.
A quiet, strange sound and waves
On Saturday night, DW spoke with about a few persons who were walking through Belgrade’s city. Every single one of them described hearing a short, loud, and unusual noise and vibrations that gave the impression that danger was about to strike them.
” We couldn’t leave it, we didn’t know what to do,” said Dusan Simin. You were unsure whether something had hit your head from the side or if it would hit you. We slammed against one another. My family slammed into a pole in the brain. I was watching her, but I had no idea. We also experience unease.
Jelena Ristanovic said she was likewise confused when it happened and that she had pulled the hood of her jacket over her head. My limbs “went out for a while.”
Miroslav Lukic said,” I ran about 20 to 30 feet because I was actually scared.” When a person yelled,” They doesn’t destroy us all,” I came to terms with it and began to investigate what was happening.
Bojana Milanovic described feeling unsure and panicked,” I didn’t know where to conceal, and I felt like someone was chasing us.” When we stopped and realized nothing was bad, we looked at each other and inquired as to what had transpired.
Was a noise weapon used when?
Milanovic is not the only one who is interested in this: Every Serbian wants to know what caused the 15-minute quietness in Belgrade on Saturday to end.
Aleksandar Radic, a defense expert, was one of the first to recommend that the protesters had been harmed by a so-called” good cannon.”
He told DW,” The people’s responses show that infrasound was having an impact on them.” Some individuals exhibit symptoms common of such a circumstance. The fact that pro-government followers gathered in Pionirski Park were each given an umbrella to shield against low-frequency sound is one part of direct evidence.
Professor Zoran Maksimovic of the University of Dramatic Arts at the University of Arts in Belgrade, who teaches programs related to sound, supports this theory.
It’s essentially just a typical speaker, but it was specially made to be directed and quiet. It has a pretty longer range, up to some kilometers, he told DW.
Maksimovic claims that this speech can play music, speech, good effects like those from a flying jet, or even specially created frequency signals.
Or was it a gun for the maelstrom?
However, Earshot’s international organization claims that the sound is” consistent with the noise produced by a Vortex Ring Gun or Vortex Cannon” based on their analysis of videos provided by the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability ( CRTA ).
They claim that this device generates a sound equivalent to that of a plane engine by exchanging oil from a barrel at high speed.
Maksimovic, however, disputes this idea that, according to him, these devices are large and cumbersome, whereas the” good gun” comes in a variety of designs and can be operated by a single person.
Do the use of a similar system be permitted?
Radic’s theory is supported by states that Serbia purchased a good gun from Genesis in 2022.
According to Radic, there is written documentation, but it is private.” It was sold by a company from the US to an Jewish firm, which finally sold it to a private company in Serbia, which finally sold it to a state-owned enterprise responsible for procuring corporate resources, Jugoimport,” according to Radic in an interview with DW.
But did the government have the authority to use a similar system against activists? Radic contends that they did no because it is not included in the list of crowd-control technology in Serbia’s Rules on Internal Affairs.
In 2022, the state attempted to amend this laws, but they were unsuccessful.
” No due warning was given and no cause for the application of such a device is the real issue with constitutionality,” Radic said. Before using any officers power, you must provide a reminder. Another problem is that this system was used while at sleep.
Vucic refutes says as falsehoods.
All Bosnian authorities have so far denied that any sound weapons were used on Saturday.
Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, claimed neither the Martial Police Special System” Cobras” nor the Serbian Army could produce a good weapon.
He has pledged to look into those who he says are spreading lies about the use of for a weapons and accuses companies like CRTA and Earshot of lying.
Vucic posted on Instagram that “CRTA is a non-governmental business primarily funded by British, American, Swiss, Swedish, and another resources.” You can’t beat Soviets with lies, I say. We won’t allow your falsehoods about the sound gun fool you.
Former prime minister Milos Vucevic, who resigned at the end of January, has stated that the government is prepared to send the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States and the Federal Security Service of Russia ( FSB ) to Serbia to conduct an investigation.
However, pro-government media reports that student marshals were to blame for the panic, according to security service reports. These principles have been refuted by students.
Citizens seek medical care.
Some people sought medical care for persistent symptoms in the weeks following the rally.
Bojana Milanovic told DW:” I went to the doctor on Sunday because I felt frail and uneasy. ” Some patients in the waiting room reported feeling drowsy, having trouble breathing, and having heart rate race. Many people complained about reading problems and ringing in their ear, she said.
According to media reports, police officers have visited hospitals and doctors ‘ offices in response to complaints from residents, collected evidence, and taken photos of it all.
Two doctors told DW that the officers had arrived, but they claimed they had been too occupied with people to be aware of what the commanders were doing.
Dusan Simin’s woman, who was thrown to the brain on a pole during the conflict, was given medication and directed to a physician.
Simin intends to file a lawsuit against himself. Because whatever transpired, it was in reality not normal, he declared,” We will get justice.”
