(Newswire.net— July 8, 2020) — BELGRADE, Serbia. Thousands of citizens gathered in front of the Serbian Parliament to protest the return of restrictive measures and the reintroduction of a curfew, announced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
At around 10.15 pm, a group of demonstrators entered the Serbian Parliament building, after which the police intervened and after fifteen minutes they were forced out of the building in front of the entrance stairs. Around 11.30 pm, a large amount of tear gas was thrown, which dispersed the protesters, but not for long.
Protesters also gathered in front of the national TV station RTS, which by that time didn’t report what was happening on the streets of Belgrade, and what was also on their doorstep. After hours of clashes, police established control around 2 a.m. using tear gas, cavalry and police dogs.
Several cordons have been established in the wider vicinity of the Serbian Parliament to prevent protesters from returning to the parliament building.
After reinforcements arrived at the police station about an hour after midnight, they used tear gas and used physical force to suppress the protesters who were located on Nikola Pasic Square and in the Pioneer Park, both major gathering areas in the city centre.
During the intervention, several demonstrators were arrested and some police officers are reported to have sustained minor injuries.
Of the dozens of news TV stations in Serbia, only one TV station had reporters at the scene – the N1, CNN affiliate in Balkans. All other media went numb under the direct control of the controversial Serbian president, who just weeks before announced absolute political domination after elections that were widely boycotted by the opposition because of unfair media coverage and the lack of transparency.
Police officers tried to prevent the N1 ENG crew from filming the way they treated the arrested people, but social networks went viral with footage of police brutality filmed by protesters.
Although demonstrators gathered after Serbian president Vucic announced a new COVID-19 lockdown scheme, the rage of Serbia’s citizens is aimed at the politics of the ruling party – SNS, which destroyed all democracy in the country nearly two decades after people fought for democracy on the streets of Belgrade and terminated the domination of Slobodan Milosevic.
Lessons, however, were not learned, which led to massive corruption and to the rise of Aleksandar Vucic, who grasped control of literary every institution in the country.
Opposition politicians tried to direct the protests into a revolution against the government, urging all of Serbia to “go to Belgrade, now or never!” and telling people to “seize their freedom.” However, Serbian people blame them too for all that happened in the country after Milosevic. Former foreign minister Vuk Jeremic appeared among the demonstrators but he was chased out.
The protest may have started over Covid-19 restrictions, but its participants appeared to be motivated in part by frustration with Serbia’s politics, and a totalitarian regime that suspended democracy in the country.
Since more than two-thirds of the country boycotted the elections, it could be the violent demonstrations that could end President Vucic’s rule in the months to come.