Serbia Violated Human Rights Convention by Banning Protest during Chinese President's 2016 Visit

Xi Jinping, Aleksandar Vucic, Belgrade, May 8 2024 (Photo: Slobodan Miljevic)

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on June 2 that the state of Serbia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it banned a protest that the Serbian-Chinese Friendship Society FDH tried to organize against the persecution of member Falun Gong in China during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia in 2016.

"The Serbian-Chinese Friendship Society FDH is an organization seated in Belgrade while the case is related to an attempt by the submitter of the submission to organize public protests in Belgrade against the alleged persecution of member Falun Gong in China, a movement that describes itself as a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhist tradition," the Council of Europe said.

The Serbian authorities banned the protests citing public security concerns. Concretely, the authorities said that the time of holding the gatherings intentionally coincided with the Chinese president's official visit on June 17-18, June 2016, which could have led to counterdemonstrations and clashes, a statement from Strasbourg says.

The submitter of the submission claims that the official public security risk assessment was entirely based on assumptions and that even if there was a risk of counterdemonstrations that is not a good reason to ban a peaceful protest.