Montenegrin Rights Activist Detained at Belgrade Airport on Alleged Intelligence Orders

Tea Gorjanc Prelevic, Executive Director of the Montenegrin NGO Human Rights Action, stated on Friday that she was detained once more at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport. She alleges the detention was carried out on the orders of Serbia's Security Intelligence Agency (BIA).

Gorjanc Prelevic described the incident on Facebook, noting that her detention was shorter than a previous one on Monday. She also observed that the police officers involved appeared uncomfortable. During this latest detention, border police informed her that the BIA had ordered her detainment.

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Today, I was again held at the Belgrade airport without explanation, this time while departing my native Serbia. It lasted shorter than on Monday, and once again, the police officers themselves appeared uncomfortable.

In response to the alleged "illegal conduct," Gorjanc Prelevic has sent a second letter to the BIA's director, Vladimir Orlic, demanding an explanation. She asserted that "Advocating for human rights and the rule of law must not be interpreted as an attack on the security of any democratic state – much less as a pretext for political retaliation."

Human Rights Action has issued a formal protest following the incident. After her initial detention on July 27, Gorjanc Prelevic had already requested that the BIA and the Serbian Police Directorate provide specific reasons for her being singled out, separated from her minor children, and held at the border.

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Advocating for human rights and the rule of law must not be interpreted as an attack on the security of any democratic state - much less as a pretext for political retaliation.