Serbian prosecutors said on June 19 they had obtained evidence suggesting a student group planned to stage a simulated “sound cannon” incident at a major protest last year in order to accuse state authorities, Tanjug reported.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade said the information emerged during a separate investigation into the death of a student, identified as M.Ž., at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade on March 26, 2026.

According to the statement, documentation seized during a search of the faculty on March 27 included records from a January 22, 2025 meeting of a student organisation known as “Students in Blockade”, which has organised mass protests against the government, and its Umbrella Working Group for Security.

Prosecutors said the documents indicated that participants discussed plans to simulate the use of a “sound cannon” at a protest held on March 15, 2025, with the aim of blaming state authorities.

The prosecutor’s office has requested that the police’s Anti-Terrorism Service gather further information, including identifying participants in the January 2025 meeting and determining whether their actions could constitute incitement to violently change the constitutional order or other crimes prosecuted ex officio.

Authorities also ordered interviews with individuals who publicly claimed that a “sound cannon” had been used during the March 15 protest, asking how they obtained such information and what evidence supported their assertions.

The allegations relate to a controversial incident at the March 2025 anti-government protest in Belgrade, when a sudden loud noise triggered panic among large crowds gathered in the city centre.

Demonstrators and opposition figures at the time accused authorities of deploying a military-grade Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), sometimes referred to as a “sonic cannon”, claims the government has consistently denied.

Serbian officials, including the military, have said such devices were neither used nor are in the country’s arsenal.

Student organisers and opposition figures will no doubt question the independence of the prosecutor’s office and portray the investigation as politically motivated.

Indeed, the “Students in Blockade” responded on June 19 by stating that the prosecution's accusation was a “lie”, and that the “citizens of Serbia deserve the truth about the events of March 15, and not a new attempt to shift the responsibility to those who protested peacefully and non-violently for months”.

They said the document referred to by the Prosecution was created two months before the protest on March 15, at a time when the rally had not even been planned. The students claim that their mention of the sound cannon was part of a discussion about potential security risks and forms of police intervention at another rally.