"Serbia against violence": Incidents at the opposition protest in Belgrade were made by hooligans sent by the government

The coalition "Serbia against violence" (SPN) announced that the incidents at the opposition protest in Belgrade on December 24 were caused by "hooligans sent by the government".

"The authorities used violence to present peaceful protests as violent," SPN stated.

She announced that "sending hooligans" to cause incidents at the protest was used by the government to deal with peaceful protesters who are demanding a repeat of the elections held on December 17.

"The regime of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has once again shown its true, violent face," announced the "Serbia Against Violence" coalition.

"Brute Force"

The SPN statement states that special units used brutal force on citizens.

"They beat one of the demonstrators and broke his leg, kicking him while he was lying on the ground. After the protest, the police also attacked Radomir Lazović, from the Green-Left Front," according to the SPN announcement.

That political organization stated that a large number of peaceful citizens were arrested who did not give a reason for it and announced that it would provide them with legal protection.

"Regardless of the cost, we will never accept the theft that was carried out in an organized manner in the elections on December 17," SPN said.

Šapić: Tolerant police

Aleksandar Šapić, an official of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and president of the Provisional Authority of the City of Belgrade, said that the police responded to the protests in the most tolerant way possible.

"Such demonstrations have nothing to do with the elections, because it is about the overthrow of the state by one group of people," Šapić said.

More than 30 demonstrators were arrested during the protest of the opposition coalition "Serbia against violence" on December 24 in Belgrade.

During the protest, a group of masked people tried to enter the Belgrade Assembly, broke the windows and doors, while the police inside the building threw tear gas and pepper spray at them.

The police then went to the plateau in front of the Belgrade Assembly and removed the gathered people from that part of the city where the buildings of the Presidency of Serbia, the Assembly of Serbia and the headquarters of the Republic Election Commission are located. The police said that seven police officers were injured in the incidents.

It was the seventh protest of the opposition in the capital of Serbia with the request to cancel the elections held on December 17. The list "Serbia against violence" claims that the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) stole the elections, among other things, by fictitiously registering their voters from other parts of Serbia and abroad to addresses in Belgrade.