Prosecutor's office: Reports show no "sound cannon" was used or seen on Saturday

BELGRADE - The First Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade said on Tuesday it had established a case and requested information from the Interior Ministry and the Police Directorate about alleged use of a so-called sound cannon during Saturday's protest in Belgrade.

Based on reports by the Interior Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Security and Information Agency, it has been unequivocally determined that none of the said organisational units or their members involved in securing the protest did not hear, see or use a so-called sound cannon, the prosecutor's office said.

The case was established on Sunday based on media reports on various internet news portals and on video footage posted on social media networks, in connection with an incident that occurred at 7.11 pm on Saturday, when, according to witness accounts, a loud and unusual sound was heard that caused citizens who had gathered on King Milan Street to panic, run, push each other and fall.

The prosecutor's office requested that it be established whether a weapon, a pyrotechnic device or any other device causing general danger was used that led or could have led to danger to the lives or physical integrity of citizens who were present, an official statement said.

An analysis by the Defence Ministry - the Military Technical Institute - shows that, based on available information and openly available sources, there is no indication that a "sound cannon" system was used at the critical time, it said.

A correspondence from the Health Ministry shows that, based on reports from the relevant health care institutions in the territory of the City of Belgrade, it has been unequivocally determined that patients examined between March 15 and 17 showed no clinical symptoms of acute acoustic trauma and that full diagnostics objectively detected no other damage caused by intensive, concentrated high-frequency noise at over 100 dB or higher, it also said.