Dacic: Serbian police have never used sound cannon

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday police officers who had taken part in securing Saturday's protest in Belgrade had made a crucial contribution to preserving peace and stability, and again dismissed as untrue allegations the police had used an illegal device - a sound cannon - during the protest.

"No one who was at the protest saw a so-called sound cannon, because the police did not use one," Dacic told a press conference.

"Never in history have the Serbian police used those devices (sound cannons), while other police forces in the world have. There were ideas to amend the law, but we have not done that. We have never brought in vehicles carrying any kind of illegal devices," Dacic noted.

He said he insisted on a probe by the prosecutor's office providing answers to all questions about false allegations the police had used a sound cannon during the protest.

"Such a lie can have unforeseeable consequences," he said.

Dacic added that official reports submitted by all police commanders had already said no such devices had been used.

"The entire command line at our ministry is recorded. If anyone issues any orders or instruction, it is all recorded," Dacic said.

He reiterated that he insisted on establishing how a lie that was "detrimental to the reputation of the state of Serbia and the police" had been floated.

He said a photo of a vehicle carrying a box wrongly identified as a sound cannon in fact showed a Gendarmerie vehicle carrying communication repeaters and a box containing a power supply generator for those devices.