Serbian police collision with protesters calls for early elections

Serbian police have encountered a huge crowd of anti -government protesters who require early elections and end 12-year rule of President Alexander Vuchich in the capital of Belgrade.

The sea of ​​about 140,000 participants rally rally in the city, the largest turnout in recent months, when demonstrations under the guidance of students put pressure on the populist government. “We want the elections!” The crowd chanted.

Dozens were arrested and riot police saw tear gas and stunning grenades shot.

President Vuchich accused the participants of the rally who called for the choice of being included in a foreign story that was trying to usurp his country. “They wanted to overthrow Serbia and they fell,” he wrote on his Instagram page.

Five people were detained on Friday on Friday to refer the government, a statement from Serbian Supreme Court in Belgrade said.

After the clashes, the Minister of Police strongly condemned the violence of the protesters and stated that the responsible would be arrested.

Months of protests Across the country, including university shutdouts, were planned by Mr. Uchich, the second term of which expires in 2027, when the parliamentary elections are also planned.

Slobodzhan Lodzanovich, 37, a peasant from Sid in the north, said on Saturday that she came to support for students.

“The institutions were usurped, and … there is a lot of corruption. The election is a decision, but I don’t think he (teaching) will want to go peacefully,” she said Reuters.

The president had previously abandoned the elections. Its progressive coalition led by the party occupies 156 of 250 parliamentary seats.

Mr. Opponents accused him and his allies in connection with organized crime, corruption, violence against competitors and restraining the freedoms of the media they denied.

He maintained close ties with Russia, and Serbia – a candidate for EU membership – did not join the Western sanctions regime imposed on Moscow on invasion of Ukraine.

Students, opposition, teachers, workers and farmers began last December after 16 people died on November 1 Roof collapse novi sad railway station. Protesters accuse corruption of the disaster.

The accident was already forced the former prime minister to resign.

As the protest ended on Saturday, the organizers made a statement, urging the Serbians to “take freedom into their own hands” and giving them a “green light”.

“The authorities had all the mechanisms and all the time to meet the requirements and prevent escalation,” the organizers said in an Instagram statement after the rally.

“Instead, they chose violence and repression against people. Any radicalization of the situation is their responsibility.”