Victims Without the Right to Defense Speech and Victimization of Victims’ Families Without the Right to Posthumous Speech: The Example of Serbia

In Serbia, after the end of World War II, from 1944 to 1953, tens of thousands of citizens were executed by the secret police without the victims having the right to a defense, and the victimization of their families was such that they were forbidden to defend the victims. The methods of execution varied, from killing victims in their homes and yards to taking family members to unknown locations, where they were then executed without a trial—often without the family being informed of where they were killed and buried. During this period, one percent (1%) of the population of Serbia was executed. The bloody history of tens of thousands of victims without the right to a judicial process, without the right for their families to defend them or seek protection for the executed, is deeply rooted in the consciousness of the citizens of Serbia. This situation has created a culture of fear and silence, where these topics are often not discussed, and those who survived faced additional stigmatization. Given that these victims were left without the right to defense, it is important to recognize and investigate how this historical injustice has shaped the collective consciousness and identity of contemporary Serbian society. Additionally, it is necessary to work on the rehabilitation and recognition of these victims, as well as to provide support to their families, in order to enable confrontation with the past and the construction of a more just society. In this sense, this topic requires not only academic analysis but also social dialogue that will contribute to understanding and reconciliation, as well as strengthening human rights and justice in contemporary Serbia. This work was created as a result of the author's engagement in accordance with the Work Plan of the Institute for Criminal and Sociological Research for the year 2026 (based on contract no. 451-03-33/2026-03/200039 with the Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia).