Massive anti-government protest in Serbia’s capital leads to dozens of arrests

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president announced Sunday more arrests of anti-government protesters following clashes with police at a massive rally demanding an early parliamentary election. Dozens have already been detained.

Aleksandar Vucic, at a press conference, accused organizers of Saturday’s student-led protest in the capital, Belgrade, of inciting violence and attacks on police, urging legal prosecution. He also criticized “terrorists and those who tried to bring down the state,” singling out University of Belgrade’s head dean, Vladan Djokic, who was among the protesters.

Tens of thousands of people attended the rally held after nearly eight months of persistent dissent, which has rattled Vucic’s firm grip on power in the Balkan country. Protesters also declared the current populist government “illegitimate” and laid the responsibility for any violence on the government.

READ MORE: Lawmakers in Serbia elect new government with pro-Russia ministers sanctioned by U.S.

Clashes with riot police erupted after the official part of the rally ended. Police used pepper spray, batons and shields while protesters threw rocks, bottles and other objects.

Police said on Sunday that 48 officers were injured while 22 protesters sought medical help. Out of 77 people detained, 38 remain in custody, most of whom are facing criminal charges, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.

“There will be more arrests,” Vucic said. “Identification of all individuals is underway.”

Vucic has repeatedly rejected an immediate snap vote instead of the one planned for 2027.

“Serbia won. You cannot destroy Serbia with violence,” Vucic said Sunday. “They consciously wanted to spur bloodshed. The time of accountability is coming.”

Critics say Vucic has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power over a decade ago, stifling democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organized crime to flourish. He has denied this.

Serbia is formally seeking European Union entry, but Vucic’s government has nourished its relations with both Russia and China.

University students playing a key role

At the end of the official part of the rally, students told the crowd to “take freedom into your own hands.”

University students have been a key force behind nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations that started after a renovated rail station canopy collapsed, killing 16 people on Nov. 1.

Many blamed the concrete roof crash on rampant government corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects, leading to recurring mass protests.

“We are here today because we cannot take it any more,” student Darko Kovacevic said. “This has been going on for too long. We are mired in corruption.”

Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have repeatedly refused the demand for an early vote and accused protesters of planning to spur violence on orders from abroad, which they didn’t specify or provide evidence of.

Vucic’s authorities have launched a crackdown on Serbia’s striking universities and other opponents, while increasing pressure on independent media as they tried to curb the demonstrations.

While numbers have shrunk in recent weeks, the massive showing for Saturday’s anti-Vucic rally suggested that the resolve persists, despite relentless pressure and after nearly eight months of almost daily protests.

Serbian police, who are firmly controlled by Vucic’s government, said 36,000 people were present at the start of the protest Saturday. An independent monitoring group that records public gatherings said around 140,000 people attended the student-led rally.

Saturday marked St. Vitus Day, a religious holiday and the date when Serbs mark a 14th-century battle against Ottoman Turks in Kosovo that was the start of hundreds of years of Turkish rule, holding symbolic importance.

In their speeches, some of the speakers at the student rally Saturday evoked the theme, which was also used to fuel Serbian nationalism in the 1990s that later led to the incitement of ethnic wars following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

Vucic supporters bused in to Belgrade

Hours before the student-led rally, Vucic’s party bused in scores of its own supporters to Belgrade from other parts of the country, many wearing T-shirts reading: “We won’t give up Serbia.” They were joining a camp of Vucic’s loyalists in central Belgrade where they have been staying in tents since mid-March.

In a show of business as usual, Vucic handed out presidential awards in the capital to people he deemed worthy, including artists and journalists. “People need not worry — the state will be defended and thugs brought to justice,” he told reporters Saturday.

Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections are due in 2027.

Earlier this week, police arrested several people accused of allegedly plotting to overthrow the government and banned entry into the country, without explanation, to several people from Croatia and a theater director from Montenegro.

Serbia’s railway company halted train service over an alleged bomb threat in what critics said was an apparent bid to prevent people from traveling to Belgrade for the rally.

Authorities made similar moves in March, before the biggest ever anti-government protest in the Balkan country, which drew hundreds of thousands of people.

Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report.