Serbia
Serbia has dedicated terrorism provisions in its Criminal Code, including the specific offence of terrorizing civilians in armed conflict as a war crime. Serbia's 2020 law on terrorist financing has been used to target non-governmental organizations.
The Definition of Terrorism in Domestic Law
Serbia used to have distinct definitions for domestic terrorism and international terrorism but these were merged in 2019 during the revision of its Criminal Code. The law also provides for a criminal offence of terrorizing civilians in armed conflict.Art. 372(1) Criminal Code of Serbia.
Terrorism is defined as follows:
Whoever with intent to seriously intimidate the population or to coerce Serbia, a foreign state or an international organisation to do or not to do something, or to seriously harm or violate the main constitutional, political, economic or social structures of Serbia, a foreign country or an international organisation:
1) attacks a life, body or liberty of another;
2) commits abduction or takes hostages;
3) destroys a state or a public object, traffic system, infrastructure, including information systems, an immovable platform in a continental shelf, a public good or private property in a manner that can jeopardize the lives of people or causes considerable damage to the economy;
4) abducts an aircraft, a ship or other means of public transport or goods transport:
5) produces, owns, acquires, transports, supplies or uses nuclear, biological, chemical or other weapon, explosive, nuclear or radioactive material or device, including research and development of nuclear, biological or chemical weapon;
6) releases dangerous matters or causes fire, explosion or flood or commits other generally dangerous acts that may jeopardize human life:
7) disturbs or interrupts the supply of water, electric energy or other basic natural resource that may jeopardize human life.Art. 391(1), Criminal Code of Serbia.
Adherence to Global and Regional Terrorism Treaties
Serbia is a State Party to all of the main United Nations treaties on terrorism.
| Treaty | Adherence |
|---|---|
| 1973 Convention on Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons | State Party |
| 1979 Hostage-Taking Convention | State Party |
| 1997 Terrorist Bombings Convention | State Party |
| 1999 Terrorist Financing Convention | State Party |
| 2005 Nuclear Terrorism Convention | State Party |
Serbia is also a State Party to most of the main regional treaties on terrorism.
| Treaty | Adherence |
|---|---|
| 1977 European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism | State Party |
| 2003 Protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism | State Party |
| 2005 Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism | State Party |
| 2015 Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism | State not party |
In adhering to the 1997 Convention, Serbia reserved the right "to refuse to extradite a person because of any criminal offence mentioned in Article 1 which it considers a political criminal offence, as well as a criminal offence in connection with a political criminal offence or a criminal offence inspired by political motivation".
Laws and Penalties for Terrorist Offences
The general penalties for terrorism are imprisonment of between five and fifteen years. An amendment in 2019 set the maximum penalty as life imprisonment where death results from the terrorist act.Art. 391(1) and (3), Criminal Code of Serbia.
Serbia has been criticized for targeting NGOs with its terrorist financing law, the 2020 Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.
Counterterrorism Capacities and Policies at Domestic Level
Serbia has a dedicated counterterrorism unit in its national police, the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit.
Glossary
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