Riot police, armed with batons, in a city in the north of Serbia on Friday fired tear gas and stormed thousands of peaceful demonstrators who demanded free elections and justice, after months of protests against the autocratic rule of President Aleksandar Vučić, ABC News writes today.
The protest, which was led by university students, occurred more than ten months after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people. The accident caused a wave of public anger due to alleged state corruption and negligence, which the demonstrators cite as the causes of the collapse, the American news network writes.
They also report that there were no immediate reports of injuries during Friday’s chaos, caused by the police action. An ambulance was seen in the streets of Novi Sad. Police ordered some of the demonstrators, including journalists, to lie on the street with their hands in handcuffs, demanding that they identify themselves, ABC writes.
„Police were just doing their job and they did it strictly professionally,“ Vučić said. He described the demonstrators as „cowards and scum,“ while at the same time attacking a group of European politicians present at the rally, the text recalls.
Vučić, who claims that he wants to introduce Serbia into the European Union, labeled the demonstrators as terrorists who want to overthrow him with the help of the West. Earlier this week, he attended a rally in China, which was also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaders of China and North Korea, as well as the presidents of Belarus and Iran, the text states.
University students represent a key force behind the protests across the country, demanding free media, early elections and criminal prosecution of those responsible for the collapse of the canopy.
Dozens of university professors, deans and high school teachers have been replaced in recent months as the authorities carry out a showdown with student supporters. Vučić’s loyalists have been appointed in their places, it is added.
Friday’s protest was focused around the university building which was occupied more than a week ago by Vučić’s loyalists and the police.
Demonstrators in Novi Sad on Friday chanted „We want elections“ and „Vučić leave,“ vowing to defend the autonomy of the university.
Riot police initially guarded some university facilities, but later reinforcements arrived in special vehicles, after which they moved towards the demonstrators. The city streets were covered with tear gas and smoke from stun grenades and flares as the police dispersed the demonstrators from the campus.
The quick police intervention reflects Vučić’s increasingly harsh response to the protests. He refused to call the early parliamentary elections that the demonstrators are demanding, ABC reports.
Vučić, it is added, did not offer any evidence for the claims that the protests were instigated from abroad. Hundreds of students and other citizens were arrested and beaten during the protests, which provoked international criticism of Vučić’s rule.
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AMERICAN MEDIA: Police stormed peaceful demonstrators who oppose authoritarian rule!
Source: N1; Photo: ATA Images