On September 24, 2025, Serbian police reportedly detained and abused a student at the University of Belgrade in response to her protest activity.
The student was part of a blockade of the Faculty of Agriculture that began in December 2024 as part of a nationwide movement during which students physically occupied university buildings to ensure the complete cessation of academic exercises. Students had repeatedly accused police of using excessive against protestors since the beginning of the blockades.
A statement posted to the X and Instagram accounts of the blockade group stated that members of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs took the student from her workplace to a police station, where she was interrogated and pressured to sign a document of “unknown content.” When she refused, police allegedly subjected her to physical and psychological violence. Photographs attached to the statement show bruises and bloodstains as evidence of the encounter. The student reported that she was denied contact with her family or legal counsel before being released later that day.
Police confirmed that a private healthcare institution in Belgrade had notified them of a student reporting injuries sustained during a police interview, though they denied the arrest and allegations of violence.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary detention and violence against a student activist in apparent retaliation for her exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Serbia is a party. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from arrests and detentions that restrict or retaliate against student expression. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, detentions that target student expression undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.
Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://en.vijesti.me/world-a/balkan/778964/Police-deny-allegations-of-torture-against-student-in-Belgrade%3B-she-was-slapped-and-inappropriately-touched-in-the-car
https://kossev.info/en/studenti-u-blokadi-tvrde-da-je-njihova-koleginica-zrtva-brutalne-policijske-torture-mup-nije-bila-u-prostorijama-policije/
https://vreme.com/en/drustvo/stavili-su-joj-kesu-na-glavu-studenti-optuzuju-policiju-za-torturu-nad-koleginicom/
https://x.com/agrifblokira/status/1978067289581793741?s=20
https://x.com/agrifblokira/status/1978054038076690729?s=20