Arrests in Novi Sad and Belgrade
Serbian police arrested or detained at least seven people on Wednesday, alleging they planned violent actions for the parliamentary elections on Sunday, October 25, 2026. Five individuals, aged 27 or 28, faced arrest in Novi Sad after the Higher Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade coordinated with the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad and the Security Intelligence Agency. The prosecution alleges these five individuals intended to undermine the constitutional order and security of Serbia by recruiting people for "physical clashes" on Sunday. These individuals supposedly planned to use mobile teams operating outside the legal framework to attack political opponents and police officers using balaclavas, wooden poles, flares, knives, and weapons. According to the prosecution, a member of the group was to provide the means for committing the criminal offences. I find the prosecution’s claim that these individuals planned a violent alteration of the constitutional order and the overthrow of the highest state bodies via mobile teams to be a transparent attempt to stifle opposition. The suspects remain detained for up to 48 hours.
Raids on opposition activists
Lawyer Rastko Naumov said his client, Belgrade opposition activist Srdjan Ilic, faced a house search on Wednesday morning following an order from the Higher Court in Belgrade for the offense of "preparing an act against the constitutional order and security of Serbia." Police seized all electronic devices from Ilic, including computers, phones, and hard drives, before he went to the police station to give a statement and was detained for up to 48 hours. The "Belgrade Stays" organization reported on X that police visited the addresses of several activists. In Vrnjacka Banja, Katarina Obradovic, a municipal coordinator for the Student List, said police raided the home of a citizens’ assembly member at 5:30 AM on Wednesday. Obradovic stated that officers searched the house from the attic to the basement but found nothing suspicious besides promotional material for the Student List. This raid, which resulted in the detention of an activist and the seizure of electronic devices, targets the Student List, the strongest opponent to Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian Progressive Party that has held power since 2012. The student movement, which has led mass anti-government protests for nearly two years, nominated the Student List of professors and experts for these snap elections.
