POLICE

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) warns the public that the Draft Law on Internal Affairs contains numerous provisions that, if left unchanged, will jeopardize citizens' guaranteed rights and security, and despite cosmetic changes, preserve political influence on the police work. Therefore, BCSP asks the Ministry of Interior to consider the comments received from organizations in the public debate and prevent potential damage resulting from the Draft's adoption.

The main finding of this research is that there is a large disproportion between the press releases of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia and the actual number of criminal offence committed on the territory of the Republic of Serbia during the year, and that some criminal offences are more common than others.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy and partner organizations, prepared a series of seminars for activists throughout Serbia. In the period from August to December, over 15 meetings and trainings were held in which about 150 activists from local communities participated.

This overview is one of the outputs of the regional project “Western Balkans Security Barometer” (WBSB), led by the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) in partnership with the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) in Serbia. This edition of the WBSB presents the findings of this survey conducted simultaneously in Kosovo and Serbia in September - October 2020.

Citizens of Serbia simultaneously have mutually contradictory views on national and personal security, as well as on the relationship with institutions, according to a public opinion poll presented at a BCSP online event held on November 24.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) strongly condemns police brutality and demands an urgent investigation into police conduct towards protesters who gathered in central Belgrade last night. The citizens have a right to peacefully express dissatisfaction with the way the government is combating the COVID-19 pandemic and the government should stop furthering social polarisation, which threatens to develop into a permanent state of violence.

This analysis by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) concludes that during the 52 days it spent in a state of emergency, Serbia failed the test of democracy, thanks to a series of failings and irregularities in the conduct and control of the security sector.

State of emergency introduced because of epidemic is not a legal ground for total curfew and it would raise a number of issues. Total curfew is profoundly unconstitutional and not in line with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, stated BCSP Director Igor Bandovic during the live appearance on TV N1. Reminiscing on the present situation in Hungary, BCSP Director pointed out that the state of emergency must not be abused with a goal to introduce an authoritarian system of government, in which the discretionary powers of those who rule would be without accountability. This report is republished from N1 website and originally is available here.

There is a real danger that communal militia will become the means of party recruitment and protection of government, wrote BCSP researcher Sasa Djordjevic.