Serbia: Local Citizens Fight Back Against Drugs

By Milica Saric

It’s a new kind of war.

In an effort to stop their neighbors from dying of drug abuse, residents of Lazarevac, a Belgrade suburb of about 60,000, have taken on rich and powerful drug dealers by publishing the names of 44 local drug dealers over the past year.

In March 2013, five men in their thirties published the names and addresses of eight drug dealers operating in Lazarevac. As members of a citizens’ association called Sveti Sava, they handed out pamphlets to their fellow citizens, publicly condemning the actions of the local criminals. After they published the data on the association’s Facebook page, it surged in popularity.

Says “A.D.”, one of the group’s founding members, “We started creating the first list when drug addicts began attacking people on the streets of Lazarevac. It was August 2012, some drug addicts were using crystal (methamphetamine) that made them bite people’s ears off, bite their hands and so on. A dangerous situation.”

He says the residents felt so unsafe, they did not venture outside of their homes. “It was summer, when everyone should be outside, but for those last couple of weeks of August no one could be seen on the street. The police didn't know what to do with them, it was a state of emergency.”

The group was tiny at the start, he says.

“In the beginning there were only 10 of us. These narco clans have lots of money, lots of people … Pulling the first action with only 10 people was crazy,” admits A.D. “But then people started joining us – they were supporting us although they couldn’t announce publicly that they were with us.”

The association was formally registered in August 2013, under the name of Sveti Sava (Saint Sabbas) – named for the First Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Three months later in November, the association published the Black Book of Drug Dealers No. 1, with 33 names and nicknames, addresses, dates of birth, previous convictions, what cars they are driving (with registration numbers), as well as where and for how long they have been selling drugs and who are their assistants.

“For years now, we’ve known everything about these people,” says A.D. “These people are more or less our classmates, they went to school around the same time we did, and back then they began with drug dealing.”

Today there are around 50 active members of Sveti Sava, most of whom are sportsmen who advocate a healthy lifestyle. Some are parents and some are former drug addicts.

“I can see my neighbors using drugs, young people suffering, I can’t imagine my child in that situation,” says A.D. “You can see how society begins to admire these people, and the children are taking bad examples for their idols. We wanted for parents to know who these people are, and what they are doing, so they can keep their children away from them.”

Drugs and dealers have been part of the community for a long time, he says. Sveti Sava’s own “vice-president was a drug addict for a long time, he was buying drugs from them, so he knows them well.”

One of A.D.’s friends died of drug use recently. “He was a classmate of mine, he was going to math competitions, he was so clever, but he fell into the clutches of drugs,” he says sadly.

Sveti Sava claims the people on the list are selling heroin along with the high-potency marijuana known as “skunk,” cocaine, speed and other drugs to juveniles as well.

From the beginning, the activists received threats from people on the list, but also huge support from the public, which has encouraged them to proceed. So far almost 15,000 people have supported their FB page, and Sveti Sava’s story (and data) have been widely reported in Serbian media.

A.D. says the public loves the idea of average citizens taking direct action. “People are thrilled with it, and I would truly like for this story to [be repeated] in all the cities.”

Sveti Sava members say it was their focus on a man police call “D.J.” that led to his arrest on drug charges in January. Police say they confiscated 2 kilograms of heroin and 1 kilogram of paracetamol combined with caffeine, a legal painkiller often used to cut heroin.

Lazarevac police say the association has helped them by uncovering new information about the dealers, but has also made it harder for the police to catch the criminals, because the dealers have changed their locations and methods of sale.

Milorad Veljović, chief director of Serbian police, says he appreciates the association’s help.

“We support these citizens. We need help from our citizens, the information they have,” he says. “Our goal is to keep these actions ongoing, not to give these drug dealers peace for a day.”

Rodoljub Šabić, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, says that the challenge is complex, since the association is trying to do what authorities have failed to accomplish.

“This is, without doubt, a violation of the law on personal data protection, but it is very difficult to take (action) against them knowing their motives and knowing that the government has failed to respond to the issue. But it would be really good if police create conditions to stop this kind of action, since it’s objectively a violation of one's rights, and I believe these people are exposing themselves to a risk of being prosecuted legally for damaging these people’s reputations,” he says.

And in fact, at least one of the accused drug dealers has sued the association for defamation.

Members continue to face threats, including “I'll cut (out) your tongue” and “I’ll break your legs and arms,” but the association refuses to stop its work and has announced a new publication.

Sveti Sava believes the sale of narcotics has decreased by 80 percent since the association started working. They also said drug addicts need to travel to nearby towns to reach drugs now.

Police did not provide figures on narcotics supply, nor did they speculate on whether Sveti Sava’s activities are affecting it. Chief Director Veljović did say, however, “I know for sure that the price of narcotics has increased significantly.”

Action has broadened

Meanwhile supporters elsewhere in Serbia have begun emulating Sveti Sava in their own cities.

In November, the citizens of Kruševac – a city in the central part of Serbia – began their own action. Like Sveti Sava, they published a list of suspects on Facebook, with the photos, names, addresses, and other personal data of 40 alleged narcotics dealers.

As they told OCCRP, their aim is to help and speed up the arrests of drug dealers. Their source of information is one of their own members, who is a former drug addict. They say they also get good information from police officers.

As in Lazarevac, the police of Kruševac confirmed they knew drug dealers from before and have filed criminal charges against some of them.