Category: Persecution
Period: from 23 May 2026
Outcome: No one investigated (as of 27 May 2026)
On 25 May 2026, seven plainclothes police officers took activist Suzana Jović, known as the woman in red, from her job at a fitness centre in Niš and drove her to Belgrade. The Interior Ministry says officers of the Criminal Police Directorate arrested her and one other person over unrest at a protest on 23 May. According to her lawyer, Jovan Rajić, she spent the night at a police station without a detention order, was questioned before a misdemeanour judge without a lawyer and was fined 90,000 dinars. We found no report of proceedings against the officers.
According to reports by N1, Danas and Južne vesti, on Monday 25 May 2026 plainclothes police officers entered the fitness centre in Niš where Suzana Jović works as a personal trainer, interrupted a session she was running and took her to Belgrade. According to gym staff, the officers arrived at around 14h. Two unmarked vehicles and seven officers came to Niš from Belgrade.
She says her phone was taken from her and switched off, so her family did not know where she was for hours. The Niš Police Directorate told Južne vesti that it had carried out no such action.
On 26 May, the Interior Ministry said officers of the Criminal Police Directorate had arrested S. J. and N. A. on suspicion of taking part in a large-scale breach of public order at a rally in Belgrade on 23 May 2026. According to police footage, they actively took part in organising the unrest, overturning and setting fire to waste containers, and throwing stones, firecrackers and flares at police officers.
According to the lawyer, the fine was imposed because Jović "was pushing a container".
Lawyer Jovan Rajić says Jović was not served with a detention order and was unlawfully held overnight at the 29 November police station. He says he was not allowed access to his client: after an hour and a half of waiting in the lobby, she came out with a fine.
Before the judge, she was fined 90,000 dinars for disturbing public order and peace.
Students blockading the Faculty of Law in Niš called the detention an abuse of police powers and demanded that all officials involved in it be held accountable.
Three days after the fine was imposed, members of the public had raised 90,000 dinars; Jović donated the surplus to the medical treatment of two sick children. Belgrade police gave Južne vesti no information, and the Interior Ministry did not answer questions from Danas about whether the detention was lawful.