Government vs. Sound Cannon: What’s the Verdict?

After thousands of people witnessed an unprecedented phenomenon, a sound, and the medical effects they felt on Saturday at 19:11, and after the public was flooded with dozens of recordings clearly showing the spontaneous panic reaction of the peaceful and still crowd, claims on the potential use of  “sonic weapons” against protesters emerged. 

Sonic weapons are completely unknown in Serbia, and as far as the public was aware, they had never been used. For this reason, CRTA sought the assistance of foreign experts, Earshot, who, in their preliminary conclusion after analyzing several video recordings, determined that the recorded sound matched that of a Vortex Cannon or Vortex Ring Gun. More detailed analyses are ongoing, and additional materials and testimonies have been collected, with over 3,000 people already reporting their exposure to CRTA and other human rights NGOs, citing health issues following the attack.

In the days following Saturday, all state authorities and officials – relevant and irrelevant to the matter – made statements denying that Serbia possessed such devices, that they were used at the protest, or that such devices were present on the streets of Belgrade that day. Even the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) launched an investigation into spreading panic, warning that anyone speaking publicly about the sonic weapon could face consequences. Two parliamentary committee sessions were even held, where the Ministers of Police and Defense, as well as the Director of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA), spoke on the matter.

On Wednesday, March 19, there was a turning point in the government’s statements after a photograph surfaced showing a device resembling the LRAD XL450 sonic weapon mounted on a Gendarmerie vehicle. Throughout the day, the opposition published contracts revealing that these devices had been purchased for the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) in 2021. After initially denying it, the Minister of Police admitted that Serbia did, in fact, possess such devices but claimed they were stored in warehouses as there was no legal basis for their use.

One analyst compared this to “buying the latest iPhone just to use its calculator function.”

 

Timeline of shifting statements of state officials:

 

• 15 March – MoI and President first to deny sound cannon use on the day of massive student protest

“It is a lie that the police used a sound cannon during the 15-minute silence observed by protesters on the streets. The use of a sound cannon is not in accordance with the law, and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs only employs means that comply with legal regulations”, said MoI Dačić for Informer.

“I also want not only to deny, but to say that the accusations of someone using a sound cannon are shameful, especially when special forces soldiers from the Cobras unit are shown and it is claimed that what they are holding is a sound cannon, when in fact it is just an anti-drone rifle. Just so you understand the kind of liars we are dealing with. So, we did not raise a baton, we did not even raise a baton”, said President Vučić in an official address.        

The Ministry of Internal Affairs also published a statement, stating it has never used, nor does it use, any means that are not permitted by law.

 

• 16 March – Official denials from MoI and MoD continue, device was “never used”

“Members of the Police Directorate and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have never used the mentioned device. The Police Directorate uses coercive measures strictly in accordance with legal regulations. Yesterday, no coercive measures were used, and therefore, the sound cannon was not used either”, said Dragan Vasiljević, Acting Director of Police.        

The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in a new statement, reiterated that police have “never used, nor do they use, means that are not permitted by law”. The Ministry of Defense in a statement, categorically rejected “blatant lies”, stating that the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces have “never used, nor do they use, a sound cannon or any other means not permitted by law”. 

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade ordered the identification of individuals responsible for spreading false claims that dozens of citizens had received treatment for symptoms allegedly linked to the use of the so-called “sound cannon”.

 

• 17 March – Official denials of state ownership and use of a sound cannon intensify

“When we tell them that these sound cannons were not present on the streets at all, that no one used them anywhere, and that they couldn’t have even seen them […] There is only one problem—no state authority in Serbia has ever had, nor does it currently have, any Vortex device”, said President Vučić on Instagram.  

“No sound cannon was present on the streets of Belgrade, and no sound cannon was used by the Serbian police or any other state authority in Serbia […] We are not hiding anything. We are ready to officially invite both the FBI and FSB to come to Serbia and verify all these claims and facts”, said Prime Minister Vučević in a press conference.

“With full responsibility as the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, I firmly state that the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not possess either the “Vortex Ring Gun” or the “Vortex Cannon”, as claimed by the NGO CRTA and its affiliated so-called international NGO “Earshot”. Likewise, the Ministry does not possess the LRAD-1000Xi, manufactured by the American company Genasys, nor any similar weapon produced by the Russian company Ruselectronics, as alleged by opposition representatives”, said MoI Dačić.

The Security Intelligence Agency stated for the first time that the Agency has never had such a device in its possession, neither through ‘withdrawal from storage’ nor in any other way. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued yet another statement, stating that the Gendarmerie has never used any illegal means, including on March 15. 

 

• 18 March – MoI backs down on President’s statements clarifying that the state indeed acquired the LRAD 100X, while President intensifies denials

After days of state denial, MoI Dačić came out to testify about the possession and the use of the LRAD by the Serbian police force at the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs. He admitted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has in its possession the “LRAD 100X” sound cannon: 

“The police have never used any unlawful measures – not only on March 15 but ever – including this device that is now colloquially called a sound cannon or air cannon […] A few years ago, there was talk of amending the law and that some devices were procured; however, as they say, those devices have not been integrated into the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ armament system and are not in use. I also mentioned that they were acquired for the purposes I just referred to since these devices can serve several functions.”

Later asked why he initially claimed the police do not possess a sound cannon or any other similar sound weapons, Dačić said: “That’s a clumsy statement. It meant that the police did not include this tool in its arsenal of coercive tools. Those systems are in our warehouses in boxes”.

Meanwhile, the MoD and BIA Director in their appearances in front of the parliamentary committees, continued denying the use of the sound canon, blatantly contradicting the MoI.

That same evening, the President of Serbia stated on TV Pink that no sound weapon had been used during the event, denying the use of a sound cannon or any similar device. He asserted that such technology does not exist in Serbia and that claims of its use were false:

“Not a single shot was fired, and there was no cannon wall of any kind, no sound cannon, nothing. There was no vortex, nothing at all. None of that. Nothing […] Absolutely no sound cannon was present—no vortex, no ‘vertox’, or whatever you might call it—because it doesn’t exist in this country. None of that was there […] If our forces used a sound cannon, vortex, or whatever it’s called, then I’m no longer the President; you pathetic liars, you pathetic liars—shame on you”. 

 

• 19 March – MoI Dačić shows off LRAD device in possession of the MoI as President Vučić claims that the sound cannon just hadn’t moved from the National Assembly

Opposition MP Marinika Tepić stated that the Ministry of Interior “purchased seven LRAD 450XL devices” and “nine devices of type 100”. After she published a photo of a LRAD device mounted on a police vehicle outside the National Assembly on March 15, MoI Dačić held a press conference showing off the device he first claimed was boxed away. 

“It’s a technical device, not registered here as a weapon. Our people haven’t been trained on it, nor do they know how to deploy it to harm anyone. It’s useful for our units tasked with maintaining public order and peace. As for the sound, it’s only used to warn demonstrators to disperse, but even that has never been used”, said MoI Dačić in the press conference. 

Hours after Dačić’s press conference, Vučić retreated on his original claims that there was no sound cannon by stating that the sound cannon had just not been moved from outside the National Assembly. 

“Do you have a recording that the sound cannon was used against demonstrators? Don’t say ‘something was used.’ You’re talking nonsense by trying to convince me that the ‘sound cannon,’ which hasn’t moved from the Assembly, was used by someone. No one used it anywhere”, said President Vučić in a press conference.