Analysts say this photo shows a US-made sound weapon being deployed by police. The Serbian government has denied the claims [Getty]
Sound cannons that appear to have been used against protesters in Serbia on Saturday may have been provided by Israel.
Footage of a large crowd of anti-government protesters scattering in response to a loud noise has raised speculation that the police deployed the weapon, which is banned in the country.
Though the Serbian government has denied it, a number of experts have claimed that a sonic weapon was used at the weekend, and that the police obtained it from Israel.
“A sound cannon of the Genasys brand, imported by Jugoimport in 2022, was used,” Bozo Prelevic, a lawyer and former police commissioner, told Serbian TV.
“That sound cannon is of American production, and it was imported through Israel,” he said.
Genasys is the leading producer of long-range acoustic devices (LRADs), a controversial piece of technology used in some parts of the world for crowd control.
Known as sound cannons, LRADs emit extremely loud directional beams of sound of up to 160 decibels.
The strength of the sound is capable of permanently damaging a person’s hearing, and induces disorientation and nausea.
Military expert Aleksandar Radic was among the first people to claim that a sound cannon had been deployed.
“It was sold by a company from the US to an Israeli firm, which then sold it to a private company in Serbia, which then sold it to a state-owned enterprise responsible for procuring strategic resources, Jugoimport,” Radic told Deutsche Welle.
Serbia and Israel have developed close defence ties in recent years.
The Balkan country has supplied Israel with millions of euros of arms and ammunition during the war on Gaza while Israeli contractors have inked lucrative contracts with the Serbian government.
Elbit Systems earlier this year agreed to sell Belgrade advanced drone and artillery systems in a major deal worth $335 million.
