Belgrade, June 30 (UNI) In an intensification of the ongoing student-led demonstrations across Serbia, thousands of protesters blocked roads and major traffic interchanges in 18 cities, including key locations throughout the capital, Belgrade, reports DW News.
The action followed the expiration of an ultimatum issued to the government on June 25 by students and opposition groups demanding early parliamentary elections and the removal of a pro-government tent encampment in front of the National Assembly.
A third demand — the release of those detained during protests on 28–29 June — was added on Sunday.
According to organisers, demonstrators blocked traffic at 24 points in Belgrade and set up road pickets in cities from Subotica in the north to Zaječar in the southeast.
Videos circulated on social media showed protesters using rubbish bins and improvised barricades to block roads.
Authorities have yet to officially respond. However, Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dačić stated that 48 officers were injured in clashes in Belgrade on Sunday night, while 77 people were detained. Dačić added that 22 individuals required emergency medical treatment, including two with serious injuries.
Tensions flared on Saturday night when protesters clashed with police outside the presidential administration.
Anti-graft activists, responding to the arrest of a "large number of citizens" in the wake of the protest, called for more action - with thousands responding to set up dozens of blockades around the capital.
Over 140,000 people had rallied in central Belgrade due to the collapse of a train station roof in the city of Novi Sad in November, which killed 16 people in a disaster widely blamed on shoddy construction resulting from entrenched corruption.
According to police chief Dragan Vasiljević, officers used tear gas and physical force only after demonstrators attempted to breach a cordon for several minutes. Protesters reportedly threw firecrackers and various projectiles at police.
State broadcaster RTS reported that eight additional individuals were arrested on Sunday for alleged offences against the constitutional order. President Aleksandar Vučić described the absence of fatalities during the unrest as “nothing short of a miracle.”
The protests, which drew a crowd of approximately 36,000 in Belgrade on Saturday according to the Interior Ministry, reflect mounting public frustration with the government.
Parliament speaker and former prime minister Ana Brnabić accused some demonstrators of advocating for a civil war and the collapse of Serbia, rhetoric which organisers have dismissed as an attempt to delegitimise the movement.
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