Ilustracija: Canva

The Autonomous Women's Center, along with numerous other organizations, strongly condemns today’s raid by armed police—carried out without an appropriate court order—on the premises of several civil society organizations.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (HPPO) in Belgrade announced today that the reason for the police raids on four civil society organizations lies in suspicions “raised against USAID by top U.S. government officials regarding the misuse of funds, potential money laundering, and misappropriation of American taxpayer funds in Serbia.”

Nenad Stefanović, Chief Public Prosecutor of the HPPO in Belgrade, stated at a press conference that the U.S. Department of Justice has been asked for assistance in obtaining documentation “that may serve as evidence in criminal proceedings before competent courts in Serbia” against these NGOs.

He emphasized that there are grounds for suspicion regarding the legality of USAID fund expenditures, pointing to “the excessive concentration of funds in the accounts of several NGOs,” “non-transparent allocation processes,” and “the absence of comprehensive financial reports.”

Since 2000, the United States—through USAID and other agencies—has allocated over one billion dollars in development aid to Serbia. The majority of those funds have been directed to the state budget and disbursed through governmental institutions by the ruling political majority.

In 2024 alone, Serbia received $40,144,406 USD from USAID, with the majority of those funds going into the state budget. Civil society organizations and media outlets received the smallest share.

Among other initiatives, USAID donated $10 million to the Government of Serbia for the "Better Energy" project, $9.8 million for judicial reform, $9 million in pandemic-related aid, and $8.5 million for the “Accountable Government” project, which supported the development of a five-year strategic plan for the State Audit Institution and the Anti-Corruption Agency—these are just some of the direct donations to Serbian state institutions.

It is important to note that there are no ongoing investigations in the United States targeting any NGOs.

It is evident that the investigation launched by the Special Anti-Corruption Department of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade has nothing to do with USAID or the use of donor funds by civil society organizations. Rather, the Serbian government is using USAID as a pretext for exerting pressure and conducting financial oversight of organizations that have for years been pointing out and documenting abuses in public procurement processes, legal violations, and violations of electoral rights in Serbia. These same organizations have long been targeted by sustained defamation campaigns.

Particularly concerning is the fact that the police carried out the search of Civic Initiatives’ premises unconstitutionally, without a valid court order, misapplying a legal provision that is not applicable in this case.

This act demonstrates a blatant abuse of state resources to intimidate those who expose abuses of power.

Instead of accusing these organizations of misusing USAID funds, state institutions should investigate how phantom NGOs have spent funds from the Serbian state budget—evidence for which already exists. It is a fact that the HPPO has failed to act for two years on reports against these organizations. HPPO has also neglected to investigate the distribution of money used for vote-buying in the Serbian Progressive Party's call center, or how pro-government media spend the funds they receive through public competitions. Furthermore, the authorities responsible for issuing calls for proposals are legally obliged to provide financial reports on funded projects upon request, but they consistently refuse to do so.

It is clear that laws in Serbia are not applied equally to all.

We demand an immediate end to the harassment of civil society organizations through the misuse of Serbian institutions, a halt to defamatory media campaigns via tabloids, and investigations into those who truly misuse public funds, including all funds distributed through state institutions.

Signatories:

• Association of Media (AM)
• Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)
• Association of Online Media (AOM)
• Autonomous Women's Center (AWC)
• Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP)
• Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)
• Center for Contemporary Politics (CCP)
• European Movement in Serbia (EMinS)
• Fund B92
• Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation (SĆF)
• Civic Initiatives (CI)
• Branch Trade Union for Culture, Arts and Media “Nezavisnost”
• Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR)
• Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM)
• Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (IJAV)
• Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS)
• Partners Serbia
• Business Association “Local Press”
• Regulatory Institute for Renewable Energy and Environment (RERI)
• SHARE Foundation
• Serbian Philanthropic Forum