Serbia's SRCE party alleges 'Stalinist purge' of political opponents

Serbia's Srbija centar (SRCE) party has accused the government of orchestrating a "Stalinist purge" against political adversaries. The party claims the ruling regime is fabricating terrorism charges to suppress opposition and student movements, aiming to create an atmosphere of emergency and justify potential bans on their activities.

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Europe must no longer stand by and watch as an autocratic regime knowingly lies to Brussels, tramples the rule of law, and labels its own citizens terrorists in order to stay in power.

SRCE alleges that the government is deliberately misleading Brussels, an official candidate for EU membership, while violating the rule of law and labeling its own citizens as terrorists. The party points to the swift prosecution of political opponents compared to the lack of charges in a case involving a collapsed canopy in Novi Sad as evidence of this selective justice.

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The authorities want to create an atmosphere of emergency, intimidate the public, and provide an alibi for the potential banning of opposition and student organizations.

The party's statement comes after the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade announced it had seized documents from student plenum meetings. These documents allegedly suggest plans to simulate the use of a "sound cannon" by state organs during a protest, with the aim of creating public panic and inciting unrest to forcibly change the constitutional order.

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Accusations of 'terrorism' and 'inciting civil war' serve as a prelude to the dirtiest election campaign yet, with the manipulative goal of criminalizing legitimate citizen dissatisfaction.

"Students in Blockade," a group mentioned in the prosecutor's statement, denied the allegations. They stated that the document in question was created two months prior to the protest and discussed security risks and potential police interventions during a planned blockade. SRCE argues that these accusations are a prelude to a dirty election campaign, designed to criminalize legitimate public discontent.

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The document in question was created two months before the March 15 protest and was material from a meeting for the Autokomanda protest, where various security risks and possible forms of police intervention against citizens and students preparing for a day-long blockade of the Belgrade intersection were discussed.