(ANSA) - BELGRADE, JUN 24 - The spectre of the infamous "sound cannon" has reignited pre-election tensions in Serbia. According to many accounts, the weapon, also known as a long-range acoustic device (LRAD), was used or "tested" to disperse the largest student-led protest movement in Serbian history on March 15, 2025. As seen in march footage, a "scream," or high-intensity boom, caused panic among the crowd of protesters on the central Kralja Milana Boulevard. Over 3,000 testimonies from citizens complaining of dizziness, nausea, and tinnitus were collected by NGOs over the next few months and even submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Serbian authorities repeatedly denied that the device had been activated, citing an expert report from the Russian secret service (FSB). Earshot, an independent forensic organisation, concluded that the use of a directional acoustic weapon was "highly probable." Recently, the Belgrade High Prosecutor's Office (VJT) overturned the charges, citing a "simulation" orchestrated by the student movement. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the students' staged act to "criminalise the government and destabilise public order" caused the mass panic at the demonstration, not an acoustic weapon. (ANSA).