Belgrade, Serbia
AP
—
At least 100,000 people descended on Belgrade on Saturday for a mass rally seen as a culmination of months-long protests against Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.
Large crowds of flag-waving protesters clogged the downtown area of the capital despite occasional rain, with people hardly able to move and many stuck hundreds of meters away from the planned protest venue.
Following apparent sporadic incidents between protesters and the police, university students – who have been leading the peaceful protests for the past four months – abruptly called for an end to the demonstration Saturday, saying they no longer can guarantee safety at the rally.
Most of the protesters dispersed, but thousands remained on the streets as tensions surged.
Police said the crowd reached 107,000 people at the peak of the protest. Serbian independent media described the rally as the biggest ever in the country, saying the numbers were much higher. All public transport in Belgrade was canceled as protesters streamed into the city from various directions.
The rally was part of a nationwide anti-corruption movement that erupted after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia’s north in November, killing 15 people.
Almost daily demonstrations that started in response to the tragedy have shaken Vucic’s firm grip on power in Serbia like never before in the past 13 years in charge. Many in Serbia blamed the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations, demanding accountability for the victims.
Saturday’s rally was dubbed “15 for 15,” referring to the date of the protest and the number of people killed in the city of Novi Sad on Nov. 1. The crowds fell silent for 15 minutes in the evening to honor the victims.
Ahead of the demonstration, Vucic repeatedly warned of alleged plans for unrest while threatening arrests and harsh sentences for any incidents.
A deafening sound of whistles, drums and vuvuzelas filled the air on Saturday. Some protesters carried banners that read, “He’s Finished!” Crowds chanted “Pump it Up,” a slogan adopted during past four months of student-led protests.
“I expect that this will shake his authority and that Vucic will realize that people are no longer for him,” Milenko Kovacevic, a protester, said.
The massive rally is not the endgame in a struggle for a more democratic Serbia, Dejan Simic, another protester, said. “This is just the beginning of the end, a process which I hope will end soon,” he said.
Protesting university students have been a key force of the anti-graft movement with their call for justice. Students’ determination has struck a chord among the citizens who are disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith in the state institutions.
On Friday evening, tens of thousands of people staged a joyous welcome for the students who have been marching or cycling for days from across Serbia toward Belgrade.
Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told state RTS broadcaster that 13 people were detained overnight. He said police detained six opposition activists for allegedly plotting to stage a coup and stir unrest.
By Saturday morning people were assembling in various parts of the city as they marched toward the center. The entire downtown zone was flooded with people hours before the scheduled start of the gathering.
Reflecting the tensions, police said they arrested a man who rammed his car into protesters in a Belgrade suburb, injuring three people. Hundreds of police officers were deployed inside and around government buildings and in front of the presidential palace.
Many railway and bus links toward Belgrade have been canceled, in an apparent effort to prevent people from attending the rally. The transport company said the cancellation was made “for security reasons.”
Several reporters from neighboring Croatia as well as Slovenia have been turned back from Serbia’s border under explanation that their presence at the rally “represents a security risk.”
Vucic has rejected earlier proposals for a transitional government that would prepare an early election. Fueling fears of clashes, Vucic’s supporters have been camping in central Belgrade in front of his headquarters. They include ex-members of a dreaded paramilitary unit involved in the assassination in 2003 of Serbia’s first democratic Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, as well as soccer hooligans who are known for causing violence.
Private N1 television on Saturday broadcast footage of dozens of young men with baseball caps going into the pro-Vucic camp.
Vucic has been claiming that Western intelligence services were behind almost daily student-led protests with an aim to oust him from power. He has presented no evidence for the claims.
Previous student-led rallies in other Serbian cities have been peaceful while drawing huge crowds.
