Serbians mark anniversary of pro-government violence that spawned student strikes

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Several thousand people braved cold weather and rain in Serbia’s capital on Saturday to march against violence targeting university students behind a year of street protests that have shaken autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic ‘s rule in the Balkan country.

The march was held on the day when last year a group of pro-government supporters attacked drama students during a commemorative protest. The attack triggered nationwide blockades of faculty buildings and almost daily rallies drawing tens of thousands of people.

Led by drummers, the whistle-blowing crowd on Saturday marched through Belgrade carrying huge dummy heads symbolizing the pro-government attackers.

Protesters stopped outside the city’s main court building to demand responsibility for the attacks on protesters from Serbia’s judicial authorities. The march later passed a tented camp of Vucic’s loyalists in central Belgrade that has served as an apparent human shield outside the presidency building.

The march ended outside the headquarter of the public RTS broadcaster that protesters accuse of a pro-government bias.

Year-long protests in Serbia initially started in response to a train station disaster on Nov. 1, 2024, in the northern city of Novi Sad that killed 16 people. Protesters blamed the collapse of a renovated concrete canopy at the station on corruption-fueled negligence in state infrastructure projects with China.

Vucic has refused to call an early parliamentary election as demanded by the protesting university students. He has instead cracked down hard on the protesters with police often breaking up anti-government rallies by force. Hundreds of people have been detained or lost their jobs for supporting the protesting university students.

Serbia is formally seeking European Union entry but the accession process has stalled as Vucic nourished close relations with Russia and China and clamped down on democratic freedoms. Critics accuse Vucic of rampant corruption and links to organized crime, which he has denied.