Serbian police have clashed with a huge crowd of anti-government protesters demanding an early election and end to President Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year rule in the capital Belgrade.<\/p>\n
A sea of around 140,000 protesters rallied in the city on Saturday, the largest turnout in recent months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government. “We want elections!” the crowd chanted.<\/p>\n
Dozens were arrested, with riot police seen firing tear gas and stun grenades.<\/p>\n
President Vucic accused protesters calling for an election of being part of a foreign plot trying to usurp his country. “They wanted to topple Serbia, and they have failed,” he wrote on his Instagram page.<\/p>\n
On Friday, five people were detained, accused of plotting to overthrow the government, according to a statement from Serbia’s Higher Court in Belgrade.<\/p>\n
Following the clashes, the police minister strongly condemned violence by protesters and said those responsible would be arrested.<\/p>\n
Months of protests across the country – including university shutdowns – have rattled Mr Vucic, whose second term ends in 2027 when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.<\/p>\n
Sladjana Lojanovic, 37, a farmer from the town of Sid in the north, said on Saturday she came to support students.<\/p>\n
“The institutions have been usurped and… there is a lot of corruption. Elections are the solution, but I don’t think he (Vucic) will want to go peacefully,” she told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The president has previously refused snap elections. His Progressive Party-led coalition holds 156 of 250 parliamentary seats.<\/p>\n
Mr Vucic’s opponents accuse him and his allies of ties to organised crime, corruption, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms, which they deny.<\/p>\n
He has maintained close ties to Russia, and Serbia – a candidate for EU membership – has not joined the Western sanctions regime imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Protests by students, opposition, teachers, workers and farmers began last December after 16 people died on 1 November in the collapse of Novi Sad railway station’s roof.<\/p>\n
Protesters blame corruption for the disaster.
\nThe accident has already forced the former prime minister to resign.<\/p>\n
As Saturday’s protest ended, organisers played a statement to the crowd, calling for Serbians to “take freedom into your own hands” and giving them the “green light”.<\/p>\n
“The authorities had all the mechanisms and all the time to meet the demands and prevent an escalation,” the organisers said in a statement on Instagram after the rally.<\/p>\n
“Instead, they opted for violence and repression against the people. Any radicalisation of the situation is their responsibility.”<\/p>\n
Source:BBC News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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