Activists, artists and scholars express solidarity with Serbian students, educational workers and academics, labourers, artists and activists who have played a crucial role in launching blockades, small and large across Serbia, thereby drawing attention to the systematic corruption of President Aleksandar Vučić and members of the Serbian Progressive Party.

It is not surprising that Vučić’s government uses conflict between different ethnic groups as a smokescreen. After all, Vučić was groomed by Serbian far-right nationalist and convicted war criminal, Vojislav Šešelj.

“Student blockades represent a practice of abolishing state violence. That is why, as abolitionists, we are particularly in solidarity with students involved in the blockade movement, because we know under what carceral structures they operate. These carceral structures use strategies of control, surveillance and punishment to delegitimise the voices of opponents. Student organisers and those in solidarity with them are tokenised and accused of disturbing public order, money laundering and various other misdeeds. These blockades stem from years of dissent in Serbia, as demonstrated by ongoing protests by environmental activists seeking to prevent Rio Tinto from extracting resources and causing ecological destruction in the Jadar Valley. In addition, Serbian activists are also resisting carceral state surveillance. According to Amnesty International, the police and the Serbian Intelligence Agency (BIA) detained activists and, using software from the Israeli company Cellebrite, unlocked their mobile phones to install spyware such as NoviSpy. This spyware allows BIA access to all contacts in the phone, along with the ability to record the phone screen, giving the agency access to everything someone does or writes on their device. Using the software, BIA can remotely activate the microphone and camera on the phone to eavesdrop on and harass activists. Israeli technology, crucial to the perpetration of the 15-month genocide in Gaza and warfare in Lebanon and Syria, is helping Vučić’s corrupt government to violently suppress the voices of activists and other opponents in Serbia,” emphasise the signatories of the letter of support.

The current campaign being waged by the government against activists did not begin with this event, nor was it primarily directed against student activists, the letter adds. Serbian police regularly tap the calls of various progressive activists via telephone companies, and then spread false stories about them in the media to create division and tarnish the reputation of progressive activists who, for example, disagree with corruption in Vučić’s government, a government that encourages the extractivist-colonial project in the Jadar Valley, where Rio Tinto wants to extract lithium. An example of this strategy was shared by a Serbian organiser who stated:

“My friend was accused of financing student protests through her girls’ association, while others were accused of anti-state activities. Specifically, individuals of Croatian origin were targeted and accused of manipulating students and inciting them to rebel.”

“It is not surprising that Vučić’s government uses conflict between different ethnic groups as a smokescreen. After all, Vučić was groomed by Serbian far-right nationalist and convicted war criminal, Vojislav Šešelj, whose vitriolic speeches contributed to creating the intellectual environment that led to the genocide of Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) in the 1990s,” the signatories add.

“This intrusive level of digital surveillance, used to gather incriminating evidence with the aim of blackmailing and/or silencing activists, is one of many methods that Vučić’s government uses to stop the expression of any dissent. As abolitionists, we know that Vučić’s digital surveillance regime does not stop at activists. Border Violence Monitoring Group records that refugees are routinely subjected to digital surveillance. This technology, together with a large police presence at the border, through police violence, harassment and abuse, attempts to ensure the pushback of refugees, thereby often separating family members. As manufacturers of drones and other surveillance equipment, Serbian companies also profit from funding carceral borders based on the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which aims to stop refugees from entering the EU. No Name Kitchen initiative states that refugee camps in Serbia face”...overcrowding, poor hygienic conditions and various forms of police brutality [...] the exclusive geography of camps in Serbia allows this violence to remain unnoticed and unmonitored.’"

The letter of support concludes with the assertion that the way the government treats those marginalised by carceral borders is reflected in its treatment of its own citizens. “BIA is already harassing student activists and forcing them into interrogations. As protests in Serbia continue, refugees seeking safe passage are subjected to violent interrogation and pushbacks by Serbian, Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, North Macedonian, Greek or Turkish police, together with the EU’s Frontex.”

It also highlights the example of two young women from Novi Pazar who, holding a sign together that reads “There is no yours-ours here”, send a clear message to those who seek to manipulate language and thereby create tensions and divisions within Serbian society. “Their sign and political intervention give us hope for a Serbia free from the harmful effects of carceral structures and the violence they encourage, whether in the classroom or at the border.”

Signatories – collectives:

• Blocul Tineretului Muncitoresc (Romania)
• Cities of Refuge: Zagreb – Ogulin – Rijeka – Pazin
• Kitchen Without a Name
• Platform for Working Conditions in Culture For B.R.E.A.D. (Croatia)
• Universities Against Border Controls (United Kingdom)
• Women to Women Collective (Croatia)
• Zagreb City of Refuge

Individual persons:

1. Prof. Dr. Bojana Ćulum Ilić, University of Rijeka
2. Prof. Dr. Christine Neufeld, Eastern Michigan University
3. Prof. Dr. Ivan Landripet, University of Zagreb
4. Prof. Dr. Ksenija Klasnić, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
5. Prof. Dr. Leslie Bary, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
6. Prof. Dr. Martina Domines, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb
7. Prof. Dr. Mila Čuljak, Academy of Applied Arts in Rijeka
8. Prof. Dr. Miranda Novak, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences
9. Prof. Dr. Tomislav Gomerčić
10. Prof. Dr. Vineeta Singh, Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University
11. Cyrille Cartier
12. Dr. Alexandrina Vanke, Senior Research Associate
13. Dr. Antje Postema, University of California, Berkeley
14. Dr. Darko Vinketa
15. Dr. David J. Bailey, University of Birmingham
16. Dr. Dina Vozab, University of Zagreb
17. Dr. Emina Buzinkic, Initiative for Free Palestine and Institute for Development and International Relations
18. Dr. Ivan Tranfić, Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
19. Dr. Jelena Brankovic, Senior Researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin
20. Dr. Jessica Hatrick, Teaching Associate, University of Nottingham (Ningbo, China)
21. Dr. Karlo Kralj, Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb
22. Dr. Magda Sindicic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb
23. Dr. Maja Gergorić, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
24. Dr. Marko Turk, Senior Researcher
25. Dr. Nandini Sikand, Professor of Film and Media Studies, Lafayette College
26. Dr. Omer Aijazi, Assistant Professor, University of Manchester
27. Dr. Paul Stubbs, Institute of Economics, Zagreb (retired)
28. Dr. Ružica Ljubičić, TPO Foundation
29. Dr. Sladjana Lazić, Assistant Professor, University of Innsbruck (Austria)
30. Dr. Tjasa Kancler, Professor, University of Barcelona
31. Dr. Órla Meadhbh Murray, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Sociology, Northumbria University in Newcastle
32. Izvor Rukavina, Lecturer, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
33. James Dawson, Assistant Professor, Coventry University
34. Lana Bobić, IN BONA FIDE Association
35. Marta Baradić, PhD Candidate, Central European University (CEU)
36. Maša Nađali, Sociopathy – Student Sociological Association
37. Milena Jakičević, Independent Researcher
38. Đurđica Degač, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb
39. Danny Millum, University of Sussex Union (Sussex UCU)
40. Javor Sluga, Students for Free Palestine (Študenti za svobodno Palestino)
41. Nikola Škarić, Member of the Initiative for Free Palestine, Croatia
42. Vitalie Sprinceana, Centre for Policies, Initiatives and Research PLATFORMA
43. Mia Rupčić, GIACC-Italy (Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre)
44. Mirna Varga, Assistant/PhD Candidate – Study Centre for Social Work, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
45. Nidžara Ahmetašević, Independent Organiser
46. Silvija Dogan
47. Jill Pope, PhD Research Candidate, University of Melbourne/Central European University
48. Marion Dawson, Support Worker for Students with Disabilities
49. Sanaz Raji, Visiting Researcher and ISRF Fellow, Northumbria University in Newcastle
50. Yasmin Musse, Durham University
51. Mak Maslać, Editor
52. Mirta Maslać, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb
53. Safaa Salem, Engineer, Living Atelier DK
54. Selma Banich
55. Snežana Petrović, Grassroots Movement Organiser

Collective - Abolitionist Activists & Scientists for Serbia

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