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

There are lots of videos around.

    • Aqarius@lemmy.worldEnglish
      53·
      7 hours 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
        21·
        6 hours 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
          3·
          6 hours 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·
            4 hours 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·
              4 hours 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·
                3 hours 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.