Oppositions and demonstrators accuse the Serbian police of having used a sonic weapon to disperse the crowd during a commemoration of the victims of the collapse at the Novi Sad station. The tragedy triggered a series of protests with hundreds of thousands of people who accused the corruption government. What are acoustic weapons, what they cause and how they work.
The crowd on the run after being hit by the alleged effect of the sonic weapon. Credit: screenshot x
There Serbian police It may have used ansonic weapon during the manifestations protest against the government and the president Aleksandar Vucic. The processions with hundreds of thousands of people, who in recent weeks have led to the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, began after the tragedy of Novi Sad of 1 November 2024, when the roof of the railway station collapsed on the crowd killing 15 people. The demonstrators are aiming for the finger at the corruption rampant of politicians and administrators and for the catastrophic consequences that it may entail. Oppositions and those who participate in these protests accused the police of using sonic weapons (illegal in Serbia) to disperse the crowd and dissuade the manifestations.
In Images who bounce between social networks, news and websites you see the crowd that runs away and divides panicas if it were hit by something invisible able to cause terror And pain. Sonic weapons work exactly in this way, conveying a focused bundle of very powerful sound waves with the aim of incapacing or injuring affected people. Among the most impressive videos are those recorded on March 15 a Novi Sad along the Via Kralja Milana, during one of the events for commemorate People killed from the collapse. At a certain point you can see the crowd literally open up in two, with the demonstrators who suddenly run away to the right or left on the sidewalks, between scream And falls. The road emptied in a few moments. The witnesses told the Reuters that they had perceived one strange noise lasted a few seconds and a rustlethe feeling of ainvisible wave that crossed the road passing through the people. Many have felt faint And they fell, accusing various types of ailments. The images are clear and clearly show that people are frightened by something, which according to some would be the subtle effect of a sonic weapon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dldmy0t9qwe
As explained by Lethal and unfortunate, sonic weapons or acoustic “These are devices that emit very strong sounds on long distances”. “They can be designed to emit audible or unheard of painful sound waves, or to act more as very strong vocal amplifiers to transmit vocal messages or other sounds,” explains the organization. Technically they are known by the name of Long-Range Acoustic Device (Lrad), or long -range acoustic devices. In the beginning the sonic weapons were designed by US Navy (US Navy) with the aim of hitting enemy naval targets and avoiding piracy acts for example; However, in recent years, however, the masses control devices have also been transformed into controversial. The sonic weapons have already been used on several occasions, as in the United Kingdom to disperse crazy teenagers who attacked commercial activities, against protesters in the United States and to discourage the migrants in Türkiye.
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How acoustic weapons work
These devices emit real walls of sound waves concentrate, at frequencies to which the human auditory apparatus is more sensitive. Can overcome the 150 Decibelgoing far beyond our scoring limit. They travel for considerable distances without losing signal intensity and when they strike a person lead to one hyperstimulation from the cochlea in the internal ear, the organ that converts the sound wave into an electrical signal perceivable by brain. The greater the intensity of the signal, worse are the consequences for those who are invested by the flow: acoustic weapons can even break the eardrumsbut in general they are designed to cause severe pain, nausea and migraine. Just enough to trigger an escape response and disperse a crowd.
A sonic weapon installed on a ship of the US Navy. Credit: Wikipedia
“These weapons have a risk of causing temporary or permanent damage to hearing, depending on the model, distance and duration of the exposure,” explains the Omega Research Foundation. “If you use continuously for prolonged periods in which people do not have the opportunity to disperse, as in a prison environment, this improper use could be equivalent to sensory torture (noise) or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments or punishments”. It is not to be surprised if they are considered illegal In many countries, as in Serbia. In the days following the episode, the Serbian authorities continually denied having similar tools available, until the Interior Minister Ivica Dacic admitted that the police had purchased some Lrads in 2021. There was however a confirmation of the use of these devices on the occasion of the events of Novi Sad, given that the police and intelligence services continued to deny having used similar weapons.
The Omega Foundation, as reported by Reuters, underlines that the videos “cannot confirm it with certainty, but suggest that a LRAD” on the crowd may have been used. The company Genasys Which produces sonic weapons in the United States instead says that audio and video documents “do not support the use of an Lrad”. So what could it be? According to the non-profit organization Earshot asked by the British press agency, the noise you hear “could come from one Vortex ring gunan non -lethal experimental weapon for the control of the crowd that uses vortices of air or gas in the shape of a high energy donut “, however further investigations are needed to be sure. What is certain is that several investigations have been started (also from the Russian services) to clarify the exact nature of the accident; the European Commission also asks for maximum transparency and that people are allowed to manifest peacefully.
