The Board of the Joint History Project (JHP) is deeply concerned by the arrest of Mr Srđan Ilić in Belgrade yesterday (21 Oct 2026). Mr Ilić designed the JHP website, which he also maintains.  He is an activist of the “Beograd ostaje” citizen’s network.
Police arrested Mr Ilić on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, searched his apartment and seized his electronic devices. Before any official statement was released, pro-government media published claims without any evidence that he had organised and trained “mobile teams” of “boxers” to provoke violence during the 25 October parliamentary elections. “Beograd ostaje” citizen’s network strongly refutes such claims.

The JHP Board calls on the Serbian authorities to:

1. Respect the presumption of innocence and immediately make public the legal
grounds for the arrest od Mr.Ilić;
2. Release Mr Ilić unless there is concrete evidence justifying his detention;

We call on the EU Delegation to Serbia, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission, the embassies of EU Member States and other international actors to observe this ongoing
incident closely at this crucial moment for democracy in Serbia.

JHP Board