UN Rapporteur Edwards; Belgrade needs to fully investigate sound weapon

She said a communique was sent to the Serbian authorities asking them to investigate the alleged use of a sound weapon which they denied. “My view is that the Serbian authorities, despite denying this, really need to investigate what caused this response by the crowds at those protests. It's not enough to simply say it wasn't us. I think there are still questions to be answered there as we know that the Serbian authorities have actually in their possession, according to their own information, such sound weapons. but also the fact that there was something that triggered this movement of people that was unexpected and that cannot be explained. That must be investigated,” she said.

Edwards said that everything needs to be transparent and that there are also issues for the parliament to bring up and for questions to be put to the government. “The use of these types of weapons, just like the other less lethal weapons, needs to be taken very seriously. The use of this weapon worries me greatly. The denial worries me also greatly,” she said.

“I would encourage the prosecution office as well as the National Human Rights Commission to really look into this in more detail. I think the really important thing here also is looking to the future. You know people take to the streets on a regular basis these days. We see it around the world. We need to be able to protect people's rights to protest peacefully. Those protesters also need to know their duty to follow instructions and to be peaceful in those protests,” Edwards said.