site.btaStudent Detained for 48 Hours on Suspicion of Undermining Constitutional Order in Serbia

The Supreme Public Prosecution Office in Belgrade ordered the arrest of twenty-year-old student at the Faculty of Physics Stefan Tomic, local media outlets reported Wednesday. Tomic will be detained for up to 48 hours and questioned on terrorism-related charges. 

Tomic is being charged under Article 309 of the Criminal Code for allegedly using social media to call for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, Serbian media write.

According to the court order, there are grounds for suspicion that on June 18, Tomic posted photos on a mobile application in a 16-member-group for the purpose of exchanging information and planning protests in Serbia.

According to the order, the photo posted in the group is a text stating that a violent invasion and subsequent blockade of state institutions should be carried out in connection with the upcoming protest on June 28 in Belgrade.

The state institutions include the Republic Electoral Commission, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Public Prosecution Office in Belgrade, Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS), as well as private TV Pink and TV Informer, with the intention of "forcibly changing the constitutional order in the country and overthrowing the ruling party."

The Supreme Public Prosecution Office in Belgrade adds that the protest participants "in the abovementioned photo call for physical clashes with the police, claiming that this is in their favour and stating that the conflict is inevitable."

According to fellow students, Tomic and a female colleague from the Faculty of Philology, were approached on Tuesday by men, who did not show their IDs. They questioned the students about their personal details and activities. The female student was released, but Tomic was forcibly taken away in an unmarked car. His whereabouts were unknown for hours. In the evening , Tomic’s lawyer confirmed he was being held at the Department for Combating Terrorism at the Palace of Serbia. As of Wednesday morning, Tomic was reportedly transferred to an undisclosed location.

“This is not an arrest, this is a state crime. If we remain silent today, tomorrow everyone will disappear,” the students said in posts on Instagram. They stressed that Tomic’s parents and lawyer were not informed of his detention by the police, “which is a direct violation of the law and fundamental human rights.”