What is Lrad Cannon? Putin Ally denies the use of a sound weapon against protests

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has set aside the accusations that his police forces used a military Lrad cannon (long -range acoustic devices) against a multitude of hundreds of thousands of anti -government protesters in the capital on Saturday.

Rally attendees were seen in images on scattered social networks frantically for a 15 -minute silence that was observed during the protest.

Newsweek Serbia Foreign Ministry for email comments has been contacted.

Why does it matter

The rights groups in Serbia have expressed concern that the acoustic weapon, which is prohibited, was used during the weekend.

The Balkan Insight outlet reported Monday that the students of the Belgrade Medicine Faculty “protested outside the Clinical Center of the Serbia Emergency Center, demanding precise information about patients admitted with symptoms after the mass demonstration of Saturday, which suggests that they may have been victims of an ‘sonic explosion'”.

What to know

In a speech for the nation, Vučić said that “it is a vile lie” that a Lrad, commonly known as a sound weapon, was used in the Mass Rally in Belgrade on Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered against Vučić and their administration, as part of a broader national movement that protests corruption. The protests began after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in North Serbia in November, which resulted in the death of 15 people.

A protester, Marija Simin, told the Insight Balkans that he remembered having heard a strange, “antinatural” noise that resembles a reaction engine, followed by a powerful winding cup.

“We only had so much time to look at us and say: ‘What is this?'”

“I fell back, with my pelvis probably on the sidewalk. I hit my head in a metal post, my friend fell to me and someone else too,” he added.

Later he looked for medical help and received back pain medications.

Another protester who asked to be identified only as UM also described listening to “some type of low howl sound” that lasted between 10 and 15 seconds “during which he did not know what was happening at all, if someone was coming, if he was fleeing or if someone was attacking.”

He said a stampede followed the sound, and his wife and others fell to the ground.

Vučić said he has had the opportunity to see a Lrad cannon abroad, “and emits a strong and penetrating sound.”

“That sound was not heard in the streets of Belgrade on Saturday night,” added President Serbio.

According to non -profit doctors based in the United States for Human Rights (PHR), acoustic weapons are used “for crowd control purposes by emitting strong and painful noise levels that can generate significant damage to the ears, which can cause auditory loss.”

He points out that the LRAD “can cause pain at 20 meters and permanent hearing loss at a short distance (5 meters or less).”

“There are significant concerns about the high potential of acoustic weapons to cause serious and permanent injuries,” said the non -profit organization.

Russia is Ally Key of Serbia By blocking the international recognition of his former province of Kosovo, and Vučić has insisted that he would not take parts in the Russia-Ukraine war. He refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow after Russian president Vladimir PutinThe large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In July, after meeting with Russian Vice Minister Alexander Grushko in Belgrade, Vučić described the relations between Serbia and Russia as “very good.”

What people say

The Belgrade Center for Security Policy, a Serbian NGO, saying In a statement: “The Belgrade Center for Security Policy strongly condemns the illegal and inhuman deployment of prohibited weapons, such as acoustic devices, against peaceful protesters during a public meeting of hundreds of thousands of citizens who pay tribute to the victims of the ceiling collapsed in Novi Sad.”

He added: “This act represents an exhibition of flagrant force and an attempt to incite chaos, with the aim of delegitimizing protests and criminalizing peaceful citizens.”

What happens later?

Vučić has said that an investigation will be launched to the incident, but added that “they should also process those who became public with such a noticeable lie.”