Serbian police said Monday they detained at least 38 people who participated in a protest against alleged widespread irregularities during the recent elections, in which the populists in power emerged victorious in parliamentary and local elections.
The opposition group “Serbia Against Violence” has been organizing protests since the December 17 elections, alleging electoral fraud, especially in the capital Belgrade. Some politicians went on hunger strike.
On Sunday night, protesters attempted to enter Belgrade City Hall, breaking windows, before riot police forced them back with tear gas, pepper spray and batons.
Senior police official Ivica Ivkovic told reporters that those detained were accused of inciting violent disruption of the constitutional order – referring to the attempt to overthrow the government – and violent behavior. Ivica Ivkovic added that eight police officers were injured, some of them seriously.
The opposition claimed that the police used excessive force and attacked some of their supporters.
Several hundred university students and other citizens on Monday blocked traffic on a main street in Belgrade, where the government headquarters is located, defying a police warning not to block roads and bridges in the capital. No incidents were recorded.
The police “are prepared and capable of decisively combating any act of violence,” said Ivica Ivkovic.
The ruling Serbian Progressive Party denied rigging the vote and described the election as fair, despite criticism from international and local election observers.
President Aleksandar Vucic called Sunday’s protests an attempt to overthrow the government with foreign help, without giving further details. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic thanked Russia on Sunday night for warning Serbia ahead of violent protests over the election results.
Aleksandar Vucic has “irrefutable evidence” that the West is fomenting opposition protests, Russian ambassador Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko told Russian media after meeting the president.
In a message on the social network Instagram, Aleksandar Vucic also referred to “mentors from abroad” of his political opponents, but without giving more details. Police officers and state property were “brutally” attacked by those who want to demolish democracy and the electoral will of Serbian citizens, the president said.
Serbia is formally seeking to join the European Union, but the Balkan nation has maintained close ties with Moscow and refused to join Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Aleksandar Vucic’s party won the parliamentary and municipal elections in Belgrade. “Serbia Against Violence”, the main competitor of the government party, claimed that it had been robbed of victory, especially in Belgrade.
Representatives of several international human rights organizations that observed the elections reported multiple irregularities during the vote, including cases of vote buying and ballot box stuffing.
They also highlighted unfair conditions for opposition candidates due to media bias, abuse of public resources by the ruling party and the fact that the President dominates the ruling party’s campaign and the media time allocated to the candidates, a despite not having participated in the elections.
“Serbia against violence” stated on Thursday, in a letter sent to EU institutions, officials and member countries, that it would not recognize the results of the elections. The alliance called on the EU to do the same and launch an investigation into the results.
Source: TSF
