https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0pYU1qNEQE
www.youtube.com

Belgrade authorities have used sound weapons on the crowd of protesters. The video description has some educational links.

There are lots of videos around.

  • nf999@lemm.eeEnglish
    30·
    2 days ago

    So what did the government do, planes/jets? Says sound cannon, what is that? And furthermore, WTF! A peacefull protest, what were they trying to achieve? How sad do you have to be to order this action, let alone to actually do this as an employee??

    • Aqarius@lemmy.worldEnglish
      252·
      2 days ago

      LRAD. Wouldn’t surprise me if they were field testing the gear for the yanks or whoever. Would also explain why they did it in the middle of a “moment of silence”.

      • dukatos@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        The government hates that silence because it reminds them they killed 15 people on the train station in Novi Sad.

        Protests started when they attacked students giving the respects to victims.

        • Aqarius@lemmy.worldEnglish
          83·
          2 days ago

          I know what it is, and they got it from the US, not from Russia. Not every asshole in the world is Putin’s subordinate.

          • b1t@lemm.eeEnglish
            42·
            2 days ago

            I’m not saying they got it from Russia either, I’m saying that the Serbian govt. can make LRADs themselves. And they (Russia and their supporters) will try to use incidents like this as propaganda to divide the people by spreading an anti-western sentiment (eg. “testing gear for the yanks or whoever”). It’s standard procedure for the Russians and their allies. Disinformation is their biggest stick right now.

            Also, I’m not finding anything about Serbia acquiring LRAD systems from Europe, the US or Russia. Just conjecture from a handful of smaller websites. Because again, Serbia can just make their own. They’re not complicated or expensive to make.

            • Aqarius@lemmy.worldEnglish
              4·
              2 days ago

              You severely, and I mean severely overestimate the ingenuity of the current state security’s apparatus. And the word on the street was it’s Genasys gear, ordered after the 2020 protests. The press caught wind of it in 2022 when they tried to change the law to allow it’s use. Ironically, at the time of purchase, the head cop was Vulin, who personally is a huge russophile, but hey, busyness is busyness, I guess.

              • b1t@lemm.eeEnglish
                1·
                2 days ago

                word on the street was it’s Genasys gear

                Exactly. I’m not a huge fan of rumors and this is the only thing I can find directly linking Genasys and Serbia - at all. Which references Direktno.rs as their source, but I can’t that info anywhere on their site. The article you linked doesn’t even mention them directly.

                Just a protip: If someone is finger pointing (at Genasys or anyone) without actual proof (documentation, pictures, etc.) just ignore it, it’s probably bullshit. Stay focused on the on the prize and taking down YOUR corrupt officials, don’t let anyone divide the group.

                Edit: Yup, this rumor was started by Russian disinformation bots here and here. With their “source” being a screenshot from another, unverifiable social media post.

                • Aqarius@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  2 days ago

                  The direktno.rs info would probably be this article. And, sadly, considering the current protest is, initially, precisely over the refusal to release what should be publicly available documents, word on the street is about as good as we’re gonna get.

                  And, as a sidenote, don’t assume what you imagine “the group” to be is what “the group” actually is. There is a reason why, for the first time in over a decade, Serbian protesters don’t wave EU flags anymore.

                  • b1t@lemm.eeEnglish
                    2·
                    2 days ago

                    Yeah, I know about the blockade on documents. This was an issue even in 2015 when I was there. I’m one of the people who trained Serbian journalists how to gather and leak data ;)

                    That N1 article reads like a speculative opinion piece. But Serbian isn’t my first language and I’m not up-to-date on all of the nuances of EU-Serbia relations so I can’t really comment there. I’ll just say Serbia need to do what’s best for Serbia.

                    PS - I don’t know if you caught my edit in my previous post. I found the source of that Genasys rumor, it’s disinformation ;)

                    Edit: Forgot to mention, I’m looking into that Direktno.rs article now and seeing what I can verify. Which is tough with the document blockade as you mentioned.

                    Edit 2: Not finding anything linking Jugoimport & Romax directly to Genasys. Literally everything I find is linking back to the same article you linked, which sadly doesn’t contain anything concrete. I’ve found a few pictures and videos of vehicles that have dishes on top them (the Porsche pics made me laugh.) But nothing confirming they’re Genasys or even actual LRADs and their shape/profile don’t match any of the Genasys systems.