Belgrade Rally Accuses Police Of Using Violence Against Anti-Government Protesters

Thousands of protesters led by students marched in Belgrade on September 8 demanding Serbian authorities punish police officers for acts of violence against demonstrators during recent anti-government protests.

The protesters chanted slogans criticizing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s refusal to call snap elections as they voiced anger over what they said was police brutality.

“While I was lying on the ground offering no resistance, a member of the police force hit me on the head from behind with a service baton,” said Aleksandra Nikolic a student who addressed the rally. “As a result, I suffered serious injuries to my head and mouth as well as minor injuries to my chin, hands, and knees.”

Another student, Nikolina Sindjelic, told the rally that said she and other protesters were beaten by police officers and accused state media of trying to “justify violence with lies.”

Sindjelic said she was also sexually harassed after being detained last month during a protest. The “entire state system has been directed against its own citizens,” she said in a speech outside the headquarters of a special police unit.

Protesters were hit with tear gas and rubber bullets, Sindjelic said, stating that police officers “beat us because they are afraid of us.” The crowd cheered her speech and chanted “He is Finished,” referring to Vucic.

Protesters also splashed red paint outside the headquarters of the police unit.

The pro-Russian Vucic has rejected the students’ demand for a snap parliamentary election and has stepped up a crackdown on the protests, which have taken place regularly since the collapse of part of a roof at the Novi Sad train station that killed 16 people.

Dozens of people were injured at a protest in Novi Sad on September 5 on the university campus. Police used tear gas and charged the protesters to push them away from the campus.

Police have denied allegations of violence and said they acted “lawfully and professionally” in response to attacks by protesters who threw flares and other objects at them.

A protester in Belgrade who identified herself as Andrea told RFE/RL that police behave this way even in normal times, so it wasn’t a surprise.

“But the prosecutor’s office is the one that should react,” she said. “The judiciary is in my view the only institution left as the last line of defense.”

Jelena Stojic, a lawyer, asked why there have been no prosecutions.

“Where is the Ministry of Interior’s Internal Control?” she asked. “And ultimately, as the most important institution, where is the public prosecutor’s office, and what is it doing?”/Rferl/