Check out some of the videos posted on Instagram tonight by certain media outlets in Serbia.
The streets of Belgrade are calm after strong police forces suppressed anti-government protesters, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reports.
There is still a strong police presence on the streets around and near the Serbian Parliament and the Presidency, and military vehicles are also present.
After the student rally ended, as the participants dispersed, a small group of demonstrators clashed with the police, throwing cannonballs, stones, and bottles at the officers.
The police intervened and after an hour the clashes ended, according to RFE/RL.
Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić announced tonight that police have detained 23 participants in the riots in Belgrade that occurred after a student rally on Slavija Square.
At a press conference at the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), Dačić said that there were also police officers injured in the riots, but he did not specify how many.
The minister accused, as he put it, "the extreme part of the participants in the rally" of causing the riots and assessed that their attacks on the police were not provoked in any way.
"I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms, on behalf of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the attacks on the police. The police were doing their job and did not attack anyone... All those who attacked the police will be identified and prosecuted, because attacking the police is a serious crime," he said.
Dačić added that public order and peace have been restored in Belgrade and that traffic has normalized, with smaller gatherings only still taking place near the Faculty of Law.
Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić said tonight that police have so far detained 20 people for rioting on the streets of Belgrade after a student rally on Slavija Square.
"20 people, thugs, were detained," she told Pink television.
Brnabić rejected claims that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was afraid of a large gathering and traveled to China because of it.
"As a responsible statesman, he waited to see how everything would end and only then set off on his journey. If he had been scared, he would have traveled to China earlier. So, when he arrives, he will probably go straight from the plane to meetings. What kind of nonsense is this?" she said.
See more photos taken by Reuters during the riots in Belgrade:
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called on the blockaders to engage in dialogue and responsibility, N1 reports.
More about this in a separate article:
A Nova.rs reporter filmed plainclothes police knocking a citizen who happened to be there to the ground, and then taking him away.
He repeats "I didn't do anything."
More about this in a separate article:
N1 reporters note that they have never seen so many police on the streets. A large number of plainclothes inspectors who were present were also masked.
A small group of citizens remained on Slavija Square, now holding their hands up. These are actually people who are dismantling the stage where the speeches were held.
In an instant, the Gendarmerie arrived with their vehicles, reaching them and the war veterans in the front row.
They explained to the police that their only goal was to dismantle the stage.
At least three people were detained during tonight's riots in central Belgrade streets, following a student protest that ended around 20 p.m., reports the Beta agency.
DON'T MISS IT
Plainclothes police officers detained a man wearing a black helmet near the Student Cultural Center, where uniformed police had previously knocked a young man to the ground.
At around 8:30 p.m., a police cordon began pushing a group of citizens, who were throwing fireworks at the police, towards Kneza Miloša Street, and one of the masked men was arrested there.
As reported by N1 television, members of the Gendarmerie threw pepper spray at demonstrators near Cvetni Square.
A group of masked people had previously thrown various objects at the cordon.
During the riots in that part of Kralja Milana Street, several containers were set on fire and several planters were knocked over.
The Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor's Office (VJP) announced that everyone who attacked police officers after the public gathering at Slavija tonight will be identified and prosecuted.
In a statement on its website, the VJP "strongly condemned such attacks" and warned that attacks on police officers constitute a criminal offense.
It is added that all those who did this will be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
Reuters reports that police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters in central Belgrade, as tens of thousands of people gathered to demand early elections and an end to the more than decade-long rule of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
People filled Slavija Square, one of the capital's main intersections, in a new wave of demonstrations that began a year and a half ago, when a deadly canopy collapse sparked a youth movement against alleged corruption and mismanagement, according to the British news agency.
Police in riot gear blocked the Belgrade City Hall, about a kilometer away, before sporadic clashes broke out between protesters and police near the Presidency building and in front of a park where Vučić's supporters have been camping since March last year.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades as they pushed protesters down the street. Protesters set fire to trash cans, according to Reuters.
Many of those gathered wore badges with red hands and the inscription "Your hands are bloody," as well as banners reading "Students win."
Anti-government protests began after a canopy collapsed at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1, 2024. Protesters, opposition leaders, and human rights organizations say it is a sign of broader mismanagement.
Vučić and his allies deny accusations of corruption and crackdowns on critics, and say they have taken measures to punish those responsible for the canopy collapse.
On Saturday, before the conflict broke out, the rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade, Mirjana Nikolić, told the crowd, who greeted her with applause: "This government... is afraid of those who defend their dignity and their rights."
The police estimated that there were 34.300 people on the square and in the surrounding streets. The Archive of Public Gatherings, a group that tracks public gatherings, estimated the number at about 100.000.
"I came here to show how many of us there are, how many dissatisfied citizens there are, and that it is high time to organize elections so that things can get better," Dragan Đurić, a 55-year-old farmer from Šabac, said at the rally, Reuters reported.
On King Milan Street, the Police Brigade and the Gendarmerie have jointly formed a cordon near Beograđanka, and behind the police cordons are vehicles for breaking up demonstrations.
They began to push the crowd towards Slavija.
Reporter N1 reports that a group of people rushed out of Resavska Street and continued to shoot at the police. The police did not want to stay there, they had orders to go towards Slavija, but a new clash broke out. A small number of gendarmes remained, possibly not expecting a significant group to come to Resavska Street. One person was subdued and is lying on the sidewalk.
It appears that some construction material has also been thrown. Large pieces are flying towards the gendarmes.
Gendarmes with metal shields arrived at the scene and the clash continued. One man tried to run between the police officers and was chased by plainclothes police.
The situation has meanwhile stabilized on Resavska Street.
After the student rally at Slavija ended at around 8:30 p.m., a series of incidents occurred near Pioneer Park in Belgrade, where supporters of the Serbian government are located, and the police arrested at least one masked person.
DON'T MISS IT
As reported by N1, a group of citizens threw pyrotechnics in the direction of the police cordon, located on Kralaj Milana Street.
The footage shows that a fan torch has also been lit, and the people causing the disorder are mostly masked, and are throwing various objects at the police officers in the cordon.
The police raised their shields and began pushing the citizens towards Kneza Miloša Street, where one of the masked men was arrested.
He was first knocked to the ground by plainclothes police officers, and then uniformed police officers arrived.
On Kralja Milana Street, numerous police cordons were reinforced, and several jeeps arrived at the scene of the incidents.
There were also riots in a part of Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, where the police, after fireworks were thrown in their direction, began to push the group towards the Faculty of Law.
In the part of Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra, near the Constitutional Court and Resavska Street, around 21 pm, groups of masked people threw stones at police officers, and containers were pushed onto the roadway and overturned.
One container was set on fire while several planters were overturned and pushed onto the roadway.
There are almost no citizens left on Kneza Miloša Street, but a large number of police have gathered. There is a lot of debris on the street and broken blocks from the sidewalk. Cannon shots can still be heard.
As reported by the N1 reporter, there are no longer any protesters gathered around Pioneer Park.
A container was set on fire at the intersection with Resavska Street.
Cannon shots are heard.
The citizens who were in conflict with the police fled after the intervention, but it appears that some of them returned to King Milan Street.
After the student rally at Slavija in Belgrade ended, around 8:30 p.m., a series of incidents occurred near Pioneer Park, where supporters of the Serbian government are located.
DON'T MISS IT
As reported by N1, a group of citizens threw pyrotechnics in the direction of the police cordon, located on Kralja Milana Street.
The footage shows that a fan torch was also lit, and the people causing the chaos are mostly masked.
The police raised their shields and began pushing citizens towards Kneza Miloša Street.
Containers are set on fire near Tašmajdan Park. An N1 reporter reports that it seems as if the entire MUP (Ministry of Internal Affairs) is on the streets of Belgrade tonight.
Police on King Aleksandra Boulevard are pushing back a group moving towards the Constitutional Court, from where stones were thrown at the police.
An elderly man stood between the police and the crowd outside London and asked them to stop shooting at the police.
One group of people stands quietly to the side and waits for them to disperse, while the other (mostly masked) does not give up, persistently stands in front of the police and shoots at them.
The police are becoming more numerous. The police have taken action at the corner of Knez Miloš and Kralj Milan and have pushed back the media and citizens. The police vehicles continue to arrive.
There are fewer and fewer citizens gathered, while bottles are still being thrown from individuals. Arrests are also underway.
The police brigade's intervention began on Kralja Milana Street. At around 20:15 pm, the situation looked completely different, calm. The police did not set up a cordon on Kralja Milana Street near London, as they did on Vidovdan, nor did they set up a cordon on Kneza Miloša Street.
However, a group of people threw stones, glass bottles and other objects at the police. The police then set up a cordon. Several strong gunshots were also heard. This all happened near the Serbian Presidency building, opposite the small National Assembly building.
The police, after receiving this barrage of stones, bottles, and other objects, began to intervene.
Gunshots are heard continuously, bottles, both glass and plastic, are flying. A concrete block is thrown at a policeman who is protecting himself with his shield.
The N1 reporter reports that most people tried to disperse peacefully from Slavija, but that there was one group of people who started this conflict by throwing objects.
Several young men were shot down when the Gendarmerie began to act. The crowd threw flares at the Gendarmerie. The police intervened to push back the people gathered near the Serbian Parliament.
They are pushing people along Takovska Street towards the Post Office and the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) building. Firecrackers and cannon fire can be heard all the time.
The police also intervened along King Aleksandra Boulevard.
A group of people returning from the direction of Slavija stopped at the corner of Pioneer Park and the National Assembly and, according to initial information, began to throw explosive devices into the Park.
Before that, explosions were also heard from below Pionirski Park.
The police raised their shields and moved their cordon slightly.
Explosions can be heard from several locations in the park itself.
The Gendarmerie, which was not present during the day, is also coming from the direction of the Parliament.
Citizens returning from the rally are protesting the arrival of even more members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP). An N1 reporter saw water bottles being thrown.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
