Get Going for Change Submits 36,000 Signatures against Amendments to Serbia’s Criminal Code

Get Going for Change Movement

The Get Going for Change movement has submitted 36,000 signatures against the amendments to the Criminal Code put forward recently, promising to present arguments in a public debate for three of them, related specifically to arrests, public procurement, and the abolition of the criminal offense of extorting a confession.

The leader of the Movement, Savo Manojlovic, said during an Oct. 30 press conference outside the Ministry of Justice that his organization was particularly concerned with the amendment addressing arrest issues, prescribing a new offense penalizing advising in the context of a criminal act. Manojlovic has warned that it’s “completely unclear what it means to share advice on social networks.”

“The new offense has been introduced because of the 2021 blockades and the protests last summer. This is the so-called ‘Rio Tinto provision’, intended to prevent citizens from organizing via social media,” Manojlovic explained, adding that the regime had established dominant media control. The opposition politician also said that the number of signatures and public support indicates that "not only will you not mine, but you won’t arrest either."

Minister of Justice Maja Popovic promised on Oct. 30 that the clause in the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code regarding counseling for committing a criminal act would be clarified. During a public debate on the amendments held in Belgrade, the minister said that the provision was “the most frequent target of public criticism” lately, and that for that reason a detailed list would be provided of the cases it pertained to, including, among others, pedophilia, murder, drugs, weapons, terrorism, and counterfeiting money.