Milika Radenkovic Jeremic and Lala Owen
BBC World Services
Report from images of Belgrade and London Get
Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Belgrade to protest the systemic corruption of Serbia
For a few seconds, there was nothing but pure panic as chaos and fear surged through the crowds in massive anti-government protests in Serbia. What began as a confusion swirled with questions about whether illegal acoustic weapons were used to silence the demonstrations.
A large number of protesters in Belgrade on Saturday evening were observing a 15-minute silence in honor of the 15 people killed when parts of the station collapsed in Novi Sad in November.
Then, out of nowhere, the noisy, sniffing noise quietly shattered.
My mood shifted quickly. The crowd sped up towards the pavement in panic. I was wiped out with them. People are scattered in all directions.
At first, many people thought the noise was an emergency vehicle after it sounded like a car accident. But there were no sirens.
Then came the rumors. He claimed that the Sonic weapon, a device that can cause pain, dizziness and hearing loss, was deployed against peaceful protesters.
BBC Serb Reporter Mirika Radenkovic Jeremic took this photo before the crowds dispersed
Serbian officials denied these reports and rejected allegations that security forces deployed military-grade long-range acoustic equipment (LRAD) (also known as the “Sonic Cannon”) during the demonstrations.
The Serbian military says it does not own Sonic Cannon and has not used it before.
In an interview with Serbian state-owned broadcasting station RTS, military brigadier general Slavko Rakic said:
“The effect achieved is an amplified sound recording and should be heard, but it does not exist in the recording.”
The Belgrade prosecutor’s office has directed the Home Office to investigate the case.
Getty Images
Protesters gathered to commemorate those who died in Novi’s sad disaster – a tragedy that caused unrest throughout the nation
It was estimated that between 275,000 and 325,000 people participated in the protest. The government has brought attendance to 107,000.
One of the places where protesters gathered was outside the bright yellow student culture centre in Belgrade, in the heart of the Serbian capital.
For more than four months, students have been blocking universities and organising protests, demanding that the person responsible for the collapse of the station be brought to justice.
Witnesses who spoke to the BBC Serbs reported hearing the noise, but the intensity differed depending on where they were in the crowd.
Some compared it to the roaring of Formula One Race, while others said that the plane was flying low overhead or sounded like the sound of an MRI machine.
“It was like being on the starting line for the Grand Prix,” said 43-year-old protester Ivan Vasik. “I didn’t feel anything after that, but my wife complained of a bad headache that lasted late into the night.”
Other protesters explained that they felt a sense of dizziness.
“It was a horrifying sound. It was so powerful and it felt like something was about to hit our heads,” said 37-year-old Lela Sredojevic.
“I never felt that way. I was really scared. It didn’t last a minute, but at that moment it felt like eternity.”
Reuters
The protest has become a national movement for change in Serbia
The tool at the heart of these claims is called long-range acoustic devices (LRADs). This is commonly known as a Sonic Weapon or Sonic Cannon.
LRAD concentrates sound waves at high intensity, causing pain, nausea and disorientation, and is prohibited under Serbian police law.
“The Sonic System is a recent development and has emerged in the early 2000s,” said Pavel Aksenov, BBC Russia’s defense correspondent.
“They can target either crowds or individuals, and are used by police and military forces in many countries to control riots, disperse demonstrations, guard checkpoints and protect ships from pirate attacks.
He added that although these weapons are classified as non-lethal, they can still be harmful to human health, and the effects of which are difficult to regulate.
Trevor Cox, a professor of acoustic engineering at Salford University, told the BBC that circulating footage on social media would sound enough to cause more to hear symptoms reported by many.
“If people are hearing in their ears or notice a temporary threshold shift — they’re loud enough to cause temporary hearing damage, like when they’re coming out of a nightclub and not deaf.”
“It can be permanent, so it’s very serious,” he said.
However, Professor Cox also suggested that the incident may not involve “Sonic weapons.”
“Even if the sound isn’t loud enough to cause hearing loss, it can cause combat or flight responses and massive crowd reactions. Tinnitus can also be caused by stress,” he added.
Jurgen Altman, a physicist who studied acoustic weapons and their effects, said the noise “appears to have been produced by a strong sound source, perhaps a device from the LRAD family,” but added that “other mechanisms are possible.”
EPA
Riot device police faced protesters.
A group of six Serbian NGOs said in a joint statement: “From 500 reports from the citizens and their testimony, it is clear that during the protest on March 15th there was a strong acoustic boom that sparked a series of physical and psychological responses among attendees.”
“According to the testimony, those present felt a strong, healthy effect followed by a wave of heat or wind,” they added.
Despite the chaos, there is little hope for this movement to sink.
Large-scale demonstrations are expected to resume soon this week, with small protests that involve around 500 students becoming routine on Monday.
The young female protester summed it up: “Literally everyone I know went to the protest. Usually people make excuses. Now everyone is on their path.”
Additional Reports by Daniel Wittenberg
