The American news agency Associated Press (AP) reported that “tens of thousands of people” took to the streets of the capital and other cities in Serbia, demanding justice and accountability from the authorities, while riot police secured the headquarters of President Aleksandar Vučić.
We are presenting their text in its entirety: Tens of thousands of government opponents marched again on Monday in Serbia, while riot police cordons guarded the headquarters of President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade. Vučić had previously threatened a serious crackdown on those protesting his populist rule.
The protest, led by high school and university students, marked ten months since the collapse of a concrete awning at the Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people. The tragedy caused a wave of public outrage, and corruption and government negligence were cited as the main causes of the accident. Demonstrations were held on Monday in Belgrade, as well as in several other cities in Serbia.
In Novi Sad, according to local portals, police armed with batons attacked peaceful demonstrators and slightly injured several people. In the center of Belgrade, in front of Vučić’s headquarters, police cordons and paramilitary groups loyal to the authorities secured the area that for months has served as a “human wall” against the protests. The demonstrators are demanding snap elections, transparent investigations and the prosecution of those responsible for the collapse of the awning, as well as free media which, they claim, Vučić is trying to suppress.
“I don’t think this fight will be over soon,” said student Anabela Arsenović. “We have months of struggle ahead of us, but I hope that in the end there will be elections.”
More than a hundred university and high school professors were fired after the authorities reacted to their support for the students, and Vučić’s loyalists were appointed in their place. The large protest was held on Monday while Vučić, who claims he wants to lead Serbia into the European Union, was in China at a gathering attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the leaders of China, North Korea, Belarus, and Iran.
Vučić, irritated by independent media reporting on the protests, called the demonstrators terrorists who want to overthrow him from power. The day before, thousands of Vučić’s supporters marched in several cities in Serbia, showing the deep divisions in the Balkan country.
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Source: Nova.rs; Foto: ATA Images