The citizens of Niš threw eggs and water at the city's first man in Serbia, Dragoslav Pavlović, tonight.
A video of the incident was posted on social media.
Note: Video contains inappropriate language
The protest of students and citizens of Niš ended around 20 pm, after the meeting of members and city and municipal functionaries of the Serbian Progressive Party at the Officers' House in Niš ended around 19.30:XNUMX pm.
According to unofficial information, the meeting was not attended by the president of the Serbian Progressive Party Miloš Vučević, the president of the Belgrade SNS committees Ana Brnabić, and the president of the SNS Executive Board Darko Glišić, Beta reports.
According to unofficial information, the Mayor of Niš, Dragoslav Pavlović, informed those present at the Officers' Home about the SNS leader's absence, citing "a major security risk" as the reason.
The protest, organized due to the announced arrival of SNS officials from Belgrade, passed without incident, with maximum security measures, numerous members of the Gendarmerie and police in the park in front of the Officers' House and in neighboring streets.
The officers' dormitory in Niš was surrounded by a metal fence and it was impossible to get closer than 150 meters.
Despite the great distance, citizens threw eggs at members of the Serbian Progressive Party who were coming to a meeting with the SNS leadership along 7. jula Street, and they tried to do so from the other bank of the Nišava River.
They were also targeted after leaving the meeting, and among those who were pelted with eggs was the mayor of Niš, Dragoslav Pavlović.
Throughout the protest, the crowd blew whistles and vuvuzelas and chanted "SNS mafia", "Vučić is leaving", "dads, dads".
The ambulance intervened on two occasions, first because a man fell ill, and then because a woman fell ill.
They are demanding the release of the student.
Student Mateja Nikolić was detained tonight after posting a video on social media of the mayor of Niš being doused with water, N1 reports. As a reporter for the media outlet reports, there is currently no official information on why he was arrested, but it is possible that the video is related to it.
Previously, the students announced that their colleague had been detained and that they did not know where he was.
Students gathered in front of the police station, including opposition MPs Jelena Milošević and Ana Eraković, Južne vesti reports.
Lawyer Dragana Milutinović, who is among the gathered citizens, asked the police to let her and her fellow lawyers into the station to provide defense to the arrested student, but they were not allowed to enter, reports N1.
A crowd formed, and the police came out and formed a cordon in front of the entrance. After denying that he was inside, as reported by N1, the police announced that Nikolić was in the station. The students are demanding his release.
"The police will arrest those responsible"
The Serbian Ministry of Interior announced that there was a "drastic violation of public order and peace" in Niš tonight.
"In the violence committed by people supporting the student blockade protests and opposition parties, dozens of people were injured, including Danijela Krstić and Tamara Milić, who were hit with stones, and the mayor of Niš, Dragoslav Pavlović, was also attacked."
The statement also states that the police will, in accordance with the law, react and arrest all those responsible for violating public order and peace.
Vučić: Bullies will end up behind bars
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić addressed citizens from a hotel in Niš, saying that in 13 years he had not "felt such anger and such bitterness" as he does tonight.
He said that Serbia "didn't deserve this"
"Something happened in Niš tonight that I thought would never be able to happen in our country. Ordinary people who wanted to attend a public meeting organized by the Serbian Progressive Party were brutally attacked. Those who always called for freedom of assembly, complained to Europeans and others that they were deprived of their rights, tonight organized a lynching of people, just because these people thought differently," Vučić said.
He says they "threw people with whatever they could, from oysters and eggs."
"These are the same people who, if you look at them sideways, tell you that you are for violence. These people did not hesitate to swear like a coachman, to make the worst fascist threats at every turn. The attack on Mayor Pavlović is the image and embodiment of their colored revolution - miserable, pitiful, disgusting, corrupt... And what Dragoslav Gale Pavlović did, not even flinching and smiling in their faces, is the smile of a defiant man who will know how to defeat the evil trio, the worst evil trio in Niš, which consists of Milić, the dean of women from 'Banana' Jovanović and 'in this situation' Stanković. And them, but also all the other blockaders, liars, fraudsters, beaters and bullies. I demand from the competent state authorities to urgently arrest all the bandits who participated in the attack on women, they hit dozens of women with eggs, attacked them in front of their husbands just because they do not think like them and I guess they do not know how to they curse the mother as they know how and brag about it," he said.
He said that he was "coming to Niš soon" and that he would "squash up all the thugs who showed up there tonight and who think they can restore order in Serbia the way they want."
"Serbia will live as a state, and the beaters and thugs will end up behind bars," Vučić said.
Bonus video:
