A quarter of a century since the massive demonstrations in Belgrade that ended Milošević's rule

Today marks 25 years since the large demonstrations in Belgrade that ended the rule of the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) Slobodan Milošević on October 5, 2000.

This anniversary will be marked tomorrow in Belgrade at 10 am with a public debate in Dorćol Square, where former Serbian President Boris Tadić, journalist Danica Vučenić, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences Dušan Spasojević, and student Nikolina Sinđelić will speak.

A quarter of a century ago, large demonstrations were held in Belgrade on that day because Milošević refused to recognize the results of the presidential election, in which he lost on September 24 to the candidate of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) and leader of the Democratic Party of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica.

On October 5, demonstrators arrived from all over Serbia on the plateau in front of the then Federal Assembly in columns of cars, buses and trucks tens of kilometers long, in some locations even breaking through police roadblocks with bulldozers.

In the morning hours, police used tear gas to prevent demonstrators from entering the parliament, but to no avail. The federal parliament building was demolished and set on fire, as was the building of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) on Takovska Street.

The police soon stopped resisting and mostly joined the citizens.

In the evening, the new president of the FRY, Vojislav Koštunica, addressed the citizens from the terrace of the Belgrade Parliament, and the next day, October 6, Milošević admitted his electoral defeat and congratulated Koštunica.

During the demonstrations, Jasmina Jovanović from Miloševac near Velika Plana was killed, who fell under the wheels of a truck. Momčilo Stakić from Krupanj died as a result of a heart attack. 65 people were injured.

After 25 years, DOS has long ceased to exist, Koštunica is in political retirement, and the former participants in Slobodan Milošević's government are once again occupying the most important positions in the country.

Another DOS leader, Zoran Đinđić, who was prime minister, was assassinated on March 12, 2003, in front of the government building.

Slobodan Milošević died in 2006 in a prison in The Hague, where he was being held on trial for war crimes, and his wife and former president of the Yugoslav Left (JUL) Mirjana Marković died in Russia.