18.08.2024.

Serbian activists charged after protest against Chinese mining company

Three Serbian environmental activists are charged with intolerance and violence, two years after their involvement in a protest against a Chinese mining company in the village of Majdanpek. The activists maintain their innocence, asserting that their demonstration was a peaceful effort to oppose hazardous mining operations that threaten both human lives and the environment.

In the summer of 2022, more than 100 individuals gathered at Mt. Starica, near Majdanpek, to protest against Zijin Mining, a Chinese company conducting blasting operations on the mountain above the village. The protesters aimed to halt these activities, fearing that the blasting would increase the community’s exposure to toxic dust from the extensive mining operations in the area. They also accused Serbia Zijin Copper of illegally operating on state land without the right to expropriate it.

For four months, the activists successfully impeded Zijin’s operations at Mt. Starica, an act referred to as the ‘Battle for Starica’. However, their efforts ended when police forcibly removed them from the mountainside, allowing the Chinese company to resume blasting. Subsequent rockfalls from the mountain damaged houses in the village.

Following the protest, three activists were interrogated by police, beaten, and imprisoned for one month on unclear charges. Their families received little information about their whereabouts or the reasons for their detention.

Now, two years later, these activists face charges of damaging other people’s property and by committing violence against Chinese workers. In an indictment read by Just Finance International, Serbian Public Prosecutor Ksenija Branković accused the activists of damaging property and inciting national and racial intolerance toward Chinese residents and workers in Serbia.

The activists deny all these charges, calling the indictment absurd. They insist they did not destroy any machinery, engage in racist behavior, or use violence. Instead, they claim they were subjected to police brutality and arbitrary detention. They believe the charges are an attempt by the Serbian government to silence their activism.

“Instead of supporting this brave fight for the protection of nature and the rights of the local community,” one activist wrote in response to the indictment, “the government chose to implement a humiliating scenario of arrest and exile.”

The Chinese mining company Zijin has been Serbia’s strategic partner since 2018, operating the copper and gold mines in Bor and Majdanpek, which house some of Europe’s largest deposits. The contract between Serbia and Zijin remains undisclosed, raising questions about the legality of the operations at Mt. Starica.

The case has previously drawn the attention of the United Nations. In March 2023, several independent human rights experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council addressed allegations of arbitrary detentions and police violence against the activists. The UN experts requested that the Serbian government respond to these accusations within 60 days.

Among their inquiries, the UN experts sought clarification on how Serbia ensured the activists’ due process rights. These include the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal and adequate time and facilities to prepare their defense.

Serbia’s response to the UN experts denied all allegations of human rights violations. Instead, the government accused the activists of injuring a Chinese worker, damaging machinery belonging to the Chinese company, and using illegal drugs. Serbia also claimed that the excavations on Mt. Starica were conducted to protect the village from falling rocks.

The activists vehemently disputed the Serbian government’s claims, accusing it of misleading the UN experts. They maintained that the excavations began without safety precautions or public announcement and were solely for the exploitation of copper, silver, and gold. To support their argument, the activists pointed to a lawsuit from 2022 signed by Zijin’s general director, which stated that “the activists are preventing the company from exploiting copper, silver and gold ore” on plot 624/1 KO Majdanpek.

Since Zijin Mining and Zijin Copper commenced operations in Bor and Majdanpek in 2018, production has surged, accompanied by increased environmental concerns. The company has faced numerous lawsuits for expropriating private land without permits and violating environmental regulations.

Just Finance International has previously criticized the Serbian government for weakening legal frameworks and transparency concerning Chinese investments and lending.

CONCLUSION

The indictments against environmental activists in Serbia, brought two years after protests against blasting carried out by a Chinese company in the area of Mount Starica, near Majdanpek, are another proof of the protection that Chinese investors enjoy from the authorities in Western Balkan countries (in this case, in Serbia). Ultimately, the court will pass a verdict according to the allegations in the indictment, but the indictment against environmental activists is another type of pressure on the citizens of Serbia not to oppose the activities carried out by Chinese investors.

A special problem is the fact that the contract signed between the Government of Serbia and Chinese investors is secret, that is, the public is not familiar with its provisions, which is another proof of the non-transparent business of Chinese investors in the countries of the Western Balkans. Especially problematic is the fact that it is not known what measures the Chinese investor is obliged to take when it comes to protecting the environment and the health of the population in the area where exploitation is carried out.

And this text is another warning for the authorities of the Western Balkan countries to take account when concluding contracts with Chinese

investors/creditors, especially in the part related to the transparency of the contract, as well as the provisions protecting the environment and the health of the population. On several occasions, in the countries of the Western Balkans, Chinese companies have been accused of destroying the environment, but also of non-compliance with ecological standards in production processes, which endangers the lives of citizens.