We strongly condemn today’s invasion of the premises of non-governmental organizations by armed police without a proper court order.
The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade announced today that the reason for the police raid in four civil society organizations was the suspicions “that were raised against USAID in the previous period by the highest state officials of the USA in connection with the misuse of funds, possible money laundering and unintended spending of American taxpayers’ funds in Serbia”.
Chief Public Prosecutor of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanović, said at a press conference that the US Department of Justice had been asked for help in obtaining documentation “that can be used as evidence in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Serbia before the competent court” against non-governmental organizations.
He pointed out that there are grounds for doubting the legality of spending USAID funds, as indicated by “excessive concentration of funds on the accounts of several non-governmental organizations”, “non-transparent process of allocation of funds” and “absence of complete financial reports”.
Since 2000, the United States of America, through USAID and other American agencies, has granted development aid to Serbia in the total amount of over one billion dollars. The largest part of those funds ended up in the budget of the Republic of Serbia, and those funds were disposed of by the political majority through state institutions.
In 2024, Serbia received 40,144,406 US dollars from USAID, and most of the money went to the state budget. Civil society organizations and the media received the least amount of money.
USAID, among other things, donated 10 million dollars to the Government of Serbia for the “Better Energy” project, then 9.8 million dollars for reforms in the judiciary, 9 million dollars in the name of help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, 8.5 million dollars for the project for responsible government, which helped the development of the five-year strategic plan of the State Audit Institution and the Agency for the fight against corruption – these are just some of the direct donations to the account of state authorities.
It is also important to note that in the USA there are no investigations against non-governmental organizations.
It is clear that the aforementioned investigation by the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has nothing to do with USAID and the use of donations by civil society organizations, but the government in Serbia is using USAID in this way as an excuse for pressure and financial control of organizations that for years have been pointing out and proving abuses related to public tenders in Serbia, violations of the law and the electoral rights of citizens, and against which it otherwise conducts a continuous negative campaign in various ways.
Of particular concern is the fact that the police searched the premises of the Civic Initiatives unconstitutionally, without an appropriate court order, with a malicious interpretation of an article of the law that cannot be applied in this case.
In this way, the government is openly abusing state resources to deal with those who point to abuses.
Instead of accusing these organizations of misusing USAID donations, competent institutions should investigate the spending of funds received from the state budget by phantom NGOs, for which there is evidence. The fact is that the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office has not acted on reports against these organizations for two years, and it has not determined how the money for voting was distributed in the call center of the Serbian Progressive Party, nor how the pro-government media spend the money they receive from media competitions. Please note that the authorities that announce tenders are obliged to submit financial reports on projects at the request of the information seeker, which they refuse to do. It is also clear that in Serbia the laws do not apply equally to everyone.
We demand that the harassment of civic organizations through the abuse of the Serbian institutions be stopped immediately, that the government stop smear campaigns through the tabloids, and that those who really waste Serbian taxpayers’ funds be investigated, including all other funds that are allocated through state institutions.
Signatories:
Media Association
Association of Independent Electronic Media
Association of Online Media
Autonomous Women’s Centre
Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
Belgrade Centre for Human Rights
Center for Contemporary Politics
European Movement Serbia
B92 Fund
Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation
Civic Initiatives
Branch Trade Union of Culture, Arts and Media ‘Nezavisnost’
Youth Initiative for Human Rights
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights
Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
Partners-Serbia
Business Association of Local and Independent Media “Local Press”
Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute
SHARE Foundation
Serbian Philanthropy Forum
Belgrade, February 25, 2025
