BELGRADE: Many hundred student demonstrators have blocked Serbia’s people television station building in Belgrade as conflicts soar in the Balkan state, weeks ahead of a large rally planned for the trip and billed as an endgame in times of anti-government presentations.
The kids first blocked the Screen building in northern Belgrade, Serbia’s money, late on Monday and several hundred gathered again on Tuesday, after announcing that their embargo will last for at least 22 days. A similar siege was organized in the government’s second-largest area of Novi Sad.
University pupils in Serbia are behind nearly everyday demonstrations that started after a concrete ceiling crashed down in November at a railroad depot in Novi Sad, killing 15 people. The protests have rocked the populist principle of President Aleksandar Vucic and his strong grip on power.
During the siege later Monday, riot police recently intervened with batons as the group tried to block one of the doors to the TV tower with metallic security fences. At least one police police officer was injured in battles after evidently being struck in the head by a uniformed officer, according to a film released on social media.
The pupils blame people TV for distorted monitoring and for sympathizing with Vucic and the state during the presentations. The Bosnian leader was the visitor of the major TV news report on Monday evening.
During the meeting, Vucic insulted the student-led demonstrations, warning that safety forces will employ force against members of the great march planned for Saturday. He pledged never to step down because of the massive nationwide demonstrations.
” You will have to kill me if you want to replace me”, he said,
The TV reporter who interviewed Vucic called the protesting students” a mob”, which the president appeared to approve of. The station, RTS, issued a statement, denouncing the blockade.
” Forcibly preventing RTS employees from coming to their workplaces represents a dangerous step into open conflicts with unpredictable consequences”, it said.
Some of the TV station’s employees apparently managed to enter the building through a side entrance that’s not publicly known, allowing the program to continue uninterrupted.
Meanwhile, Vucic met with US President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday. The purpose of his visit was not immediately known. Pro-Russian Vucic is a vocal supporter of the US president.
Many in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction fell down because of poor renovation work fueled by government corruption. The students have insisted on full accountability in the tragedy, a call that has garnered widespread support among citizens who are largely disillusioned with politicians and have lost trust in state institutions.
Student-led rallies have drawn tens of thousands of people, becoming among the biggest ever in Serbia, which has a long history of anti-government protests. Vucic has described the rallies as a Western-orchestrated ploy to oust him from power.
The next big rally is planned on Saturday in Belgrade and Vucic has alleged the protesters” will try to achieve something with violence and that will be the end”. Many demonstrators” will end up behind bars accused of criminal acts”, he added.
All student-led protests in the past months have mostly been peaceful, while incidents were recorded when opponents drove their cars into protest blockades or attacked the protesters.
Vucic and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have held a firm grip on power in Serbia for over a decade, facing accusations of stifling democratic freedoms despite formally seeking European Union entry for Serbia.
Authorities have indicted 16 people over the canopy collapse, but many doubt that the actual culprits will face justice.
