Catalin Ranco Pitu, the former head of Romania’s Military Prosecutor’s Office has told DW that the sonic weapon allegedly used during the massive protest in Belgrade on March 15 was similar to the one used by the regime of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu during the Romanian revolution in December 1989.
Pitu spent six years investigating the 1989 revolution, which led to the fall of Ceausescu and the collapse of communism in Romania.
He told DW that the same type of sound manipulation was deployed during a mass pro-Ceausecu rally organized by the communist regime in Bucharest on December 21, 1989.
The purpose of the rally had been to convince Romanians of the “righteousness” of Ceausescu’s policies and to discredit as anti-Romanian the protests in Timisoara that had begun a few days previously.
Low-frequency sound
“During that rally, Romanian soldiers from a specialized psychological operations unit intervened using a tape recorder that emitted low-frequency sounds through the sound system,” Pitu told DW.
That moment marked the start of the Romanian revolution in Bucharest. The next day, Ceausescu fled the capital. He was subsequently captured and executed three days later, on Christmas Day, in Targoviste.
About 1,200 people died and around 4,000 were seriously injured during the revolution.
More advanced technology; similar principle
During his investigation into the revolution, Pitu spoke with hundreds of witnesses and military technology experts.
He said the description of the chaos caused by sound waves back in 1989 was quite similar to scenes in Belgrade last weekend.
“Hundreds of people felt physical pain in the solar plexus area and entered a state of total panic for several minutes,” he said, speaking of people who attended the rally in Bucharest in 1989.
Serbian citizens who spoke with DW reported that they first heard a brief, unusual noise and felt vibrations that gave them a sense of immediate danger, causing panic and making them flee.
Pitu said that although the technology has advanced over 35 years, the principle behind it remains the same, namely that it is used as part of “psychological warfare.”
“In my opinion, what recently happened in Belgrade can be explained by the use of technology for manipulating crowds through exposure to special sound waves,” he said.
Truth came out after 30 years
The truth behind the use of sound technology against Romanian protesters only emerged three decades after the revolution.
Pitu spoke with soldiers from the special psychological warfare unit during his investigation, who admitted to having used crowd manipulation techniques based on sound.
He was, however, unable to prove who had given the order to use such technology.
“Logically, such an order must have come from the highest ranks of the Romanian army, given the complexity of this manipulation — this isn’t something just anyone could pull off,” he explained.
Pitu is convinced that such an order in Serbia would also have to have come from the authorities.
“It must come from the authorities — whether the army or the police. Civilians wouldn’t have access to such technology. It’s not that simple,” he said.
Denials from the Serbian government
The Serbian government initially denied possessing such equipment. Two days later, however, opposition lawmaker Marinika Tepic released a document indicating that the Interior Ministry had indeed procured two types of sound cannons. She also published a photo allegedly showing one mounted on an off-road vehicle belonging to the police.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic later admitted that the Interior Ministry does possess so-called long-range acoustic devices (LRAD), but denied that they had been used.
“These systems are stored in our warehouses, still in their boxes,” said Dacic.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic added that “various things” had been purchased but never used and said that if proven otherwise, he would step down as president.
“No, no one used it. No one used it anywhere. You haven’t shown me a single piece of evidence. And you have no evidence because you can’t find proof of something that doesn’t exist,” Vucic said.
Is use of such technology a criminal offense?
But can a case be built on testimonies and the admission of ownership but without photographic evidence of active use? Pitu believes that it could.
“From that point on, the investigation would have to become far more complex,” said Pitu. “Initially, it’s enough to talk to witnesses and establish whether manipulation did indeed occur. From what I saw on television, it looked real: People don’t suddenly run in opposite directions down the same street without some kind of manipulation,” he said.
Pitu said it’s not possible to say whether the use of such technology could in itself be considered a criminal offense, given that no one was seriously injured. That, he said, depends on whether the use of such systems is regulated by law.
In Romania, however, the use of sound systems for crowd manipulation is part of what is known as the “Revolution Dossier,” the case that seeks to bring key figures in the events of December 1989 to justice — but only, explained Pitu, because that was a turning point in the revolution in which 1,200 people were killed.
Thirty-five years after the Romanian revolution, many victims’ families are still waiting for justice, as the case remains in court.
Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan
