President of Serbia’s Association of Prosecutors Warns at Mass Surveillance to be Allowed by Amendments to the Criminal Code

Association of Prosecutors

The president of the Serbian Association of Prosecutors, Lidija Komlen-Nikolic, warned on Oct. 21 that controversial provisions in the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code could allow for mass surveillance in Serbia, and that many of the amendments permitted discretionary interpretations of the provisions of the Code.

In a comment on a new rule that the public saw as a threat to the organizers of public protests and protesters, she stated that "the greatest danger lying in it was that it paves the way to mass surveillance, which is not good," adding that there’s also the inherent question who would conduct it, how, why, and for what purpose.

The given provision says that it’s punishable by law "to make available material containing information that offers advice for the purpose of committing a criminal offense, using information technology or other means."

The provision also prescribes that a person mediating in accessing such material or knowingly accesses it using information technology shall be punished as well.

Komlen-Nikolic, speaking ahead of a conference on criminal law reform and human rights, also said that several provisions in the draft create confusion, and that imprecise formulations in the amendments allows law enforcement, the police, and prosecutors to interpret them at their discretion, which also creates problems for judges.