Ponoš: Government uses sonic cannon story to brand students as terrorists for elections

Zdravko Ponoš, president of the Srbija Centar (Srce) party, stated his readiness to defend his political views, asserting that the government's narrative about a sonic cannon incident is a deliberate attempt to label the student movement as terrorists ahead of elections. Ponoš told FoNet that this framing aims to portray students as disruptors of the constitutional order.

He referenced a special broadcast on Radio-Televizija Srbije featuring a prosecutor discussing the prosecution of individuals related to the alleged sonic cannon use at a student protest on March 15, 2025. Ponoš expressed skepticism about the judiciary, suggesting that with a "stacked judiciary and prosecution" based on loyalty rather than competence, anything is possible. He questioned whether he himself might be targeted.

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You know what, when such a case comes to such a prosecutor, anything is possible.

Ponoš outlined several potential motives for the government's actions. One possibility is diverting attention from controversial changes to judicial laws being debated in parliament. He specifically mentioned the government sending one version of the judicial laws for opinion to the Venice Commission while submitting a different version to the Assembly for a vote, a move he believes has caused significant backlash in Brussels.

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One of the possibilities is to somehow divert attention from the exposed attempts to manipulate with 'Mrdić's laws', where they sent one version of the judicial laws for opinion to the Venice Commission, and gave another to the Assembly to vote on.

Another potential reason, according to Ponoš, is to conceal the escape of an individual named Mirić from the Criminal Police Directorate. However, he considers the most likely political strategy to be election preparation. Ponoš believes President Aleksandar Vučić needs to damage the student movement's reputation by branding them as terrorists and enemies of the constitutional order, thereby creating a significant adversary for the upcoming elections.

Ponoš further elaborated that the government's slogan for the elections, "Serbia Wins," is a departure from the overused "Vučić Wins." He suggests this shift indicates a lack of confidence in Vučić's personal appeal, necessitating the creation of a formidable external enemy like "terrorists" to galvanize support. Ponoš recalled a similar attempt last May when the chief prosecutor ordered his detention, which was ultimately blocked by a prosecutor's commission.

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Terrorists are ideal. If he says Serbia wins, and he says that because he can no longer say Vučić wins, because that is spent, sold, nobody believes anymore that Vučić can win, that's why they are now going with Serbia wins. And on the other side are terrorists.