The article has been updated to include the information of the release of the activists.
BELGRADE – A mass protest against lithium mining, which took place on 10 August in Belgrade, ended with the arrests and penalties for three ecological activists – Ivan Bjelić, Nikola Ristić and Jevđenije Julijan Dimitrijević. Bjelić was given a 40-day detention, and Ristić and Dimitrijević were given a 30-day detention for “disturbing public order and peace”, in a first-instance ruling described as harsh and “draconian” by legal experts. The ruling was overturned on 13 August after an appeal, meaning that the activists will be released, their lawyer confirmed.
The activists were arrested early in the morning on 11 August, at one of the two railway stations in the capital of Serbia blocked by protestors in an instance of civic disobedience. However, Bjelić, Ristić and Dimitrijević were not sentenced for blocking the railway, but for disturbing the public order by verbally assaulting a journalist of the pro-government Informer television, who reported from the spot.
Higher Public Prosecutors Office in Belgrade announced on 11 August that the prosecution of all the persons who blocked the railway would take place. Meanwhile, multiple legal experts criticised the ruling against the three activists, who were reportedly sentenced for the incident with the pro-government journalist. Lawyer Rodoljub Šabić, former Public Information Commissioner of Serbia, described the penalties as “draconian” and an intimidation attempt.
The lawyer of the arrested activists Marko Pantić said for Nova.rs portal that he did not have permission from the families of the injured parties to announce the verdict to the public but pointed out that it was obvious that everything was planned so that the activists could go to prison.
“It is alleged that they obstructed the journalist’s work, surrounded her and shouted. In our opinion, this action must be concretised. What did they shout, where did they surround her, how did they disturb her? If they shouted ‘child poisoning’, it was not directed at that journalist personally. I believe that no one thinks that the journalist poisons children, but that it refers to the Jadar project and the whole story for which the protests were organised”, Pantić explained.
On 13 August, two days after the activists received their sentence, Pantić confirmed that their appeal had been accepted and that the three men would be released from custody.
The blockade of the railway stations lasted several hours and ended after the intervention of the police. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said that the police had intervened without the use of coercive means and that no one had been injured. President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić claimed that the blockade of railways and roads was a “mockery of democracy” and “the implementation of violence, will and terror of the minority over the majority” (of citizens).
“The blockades and protests are not the solution. I will talk to the people about the fear of lithium mining and with those who think differently”, Aleksandar Vučić stressed.
On the other hand, Zlatko Kokanović, an ecological activist and one of the organisers of the protests against lithium mining, said that environmental organisations will not abandon the demands related to the ban on the exploitation of lithium in Serbia.
“We want to send a message, you can arrest us, but we continue, we are not afraid, we are heading towards victory, to the end,” he stated.
Prior to the blockade of the railways, about 30,000 people took to the streets of Belgrade on Saturday evening to protest against the re-announcement of the opening of the lithium mine of the international company “Rio Tinto” in the valley of the Jadar River, in the west of the country.
The protest was organised by the Association of Environmental Organizations of Serbia, and speakers said that they would not allow the opening of the mine, due to the concerns that the lithium mine would pollute water sources and seriously endanger public health.
Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević commented on X about the protest that took part in Belgrade, accusing the protesters of “endangering Serbia and President Vučić”.
“Environmentalists who do not plant trees but dig graves, and thus openly and monstrously threaten the death of President Vučić. You will not scare him! And we will not allow you to endanger Serbia for the sake of personal interests supported by Kurti, the ustashes and foreign services”, Vučević wrote.
A wave of mass protests after the decision of the Government to “green light” the Rio Tinto project
In the past weeks, mass civil protests against the lithium project were organised in dozens of places across Serbia, including smaller towns and municipalities where the number of people who protested was assessed to be the largest in decades.
A series of protests began after the decision made by the Government of Serbia in mid-July to continue with the project to open a lithium mine in the Jadar Valley, which had been stopped by the state authorities in 2022, also due to large-scale protests.
On 19 July the Critical Raw Material Summit took place in Belgrade, attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič and President Aleksandar Vučić. It concluded with the signing of an EU-Serbia Memorandum of Understanding on sustainable raw materials, battery value chains and electric vehicles. The summit was widely seen as a major step towards the implementation of a lithium mining project in Jadar Valley.
The EU has for some time expressed interest in Serbian lithium reserves in the context of reducing dependencies on critical raw materials and transitioning towards a green economy. Germany has also shown its interest in recent years, with lithium-powered batteries being one of the essential elements of electric vehicle production.
During the press conference that followed the signing of the Memorandum, Vučić, Scholz and Šefčovič spoke about the economic benefits Serbia would have from lithium mining and attempted to reassure the citizens of Serbia that the environmental standards would be respected.
According to Rio Tinto’s plan, the Jadar project would produce about 58,000 tonnes of lithium per year, which would be enough for 17% of electric vehicle production in Europe. The British-Australian company claims that the Jadar project can be developed safely, with respect to domestic and international standards, and with minimal environmental impact.
According to the latest announcements by the authorities in Serbia, led by the Serbian Progressive Party, the mine would open in 2028, if the company complies with environmental regulations and obtains the necessary permits.
On the other hand, in recent years, multiple experts and environmental associations in Serbia have argued that lithium mining could have major negative consequences for the environment. Wide distrust in the state institutions of Serbia, which would be responsible for making sure that the environmental standards are respected, was also emphasised.