This Weekend Saw the Biggest Protests in Serbia So Far

April 10, 2017, 11:13am

Top image by Vladimir Živojinović

This article originally appeared on VICE Serbia

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For seven consecutive days, thousands of mostly young Serbs have rallied in their capital Belgrade and several other cities to protest prime minister Aleksandar Vucic having been elected president.

This weekend saw the biggest rally of all. Students joined forces with members of police and army unions, who were protesting low wages and the fact that security forces aren’t a priority for the government. In the end, more than 10,000 protesters marched through the heavy rain, mainly because they suspect electoral fraud during the elections on the 2nd of April, which Vucic won by a landslide. Protesters see Vucic as an autocrat and they demand the resignation of the state election commission, of editors of the state TV stations (who they think are turning a blind eye to the demonstrations) and of other high-ranking officials.

The protesters we spoke to all insist they don’t want politicians at the protests – even the ones in the opposition who support their cause. The protests are spontaneous, it’s written on the Facebook page, and shouldn’t be politicised by the opposition.

Nikola, a 22-year-old student, told me that “politicians from the opposition shouldn’t join us. These protests don’t belong to one person or party – we’ve come out to the streets because we are fed up with everything in this country.”

His friend Ilija, 21, agreed that politicians “shouldn’t come to the protests or mix with us here. We’re here because we don’t want to live in this system any more. It’s time to end this dictatorship, and that feeling is coming from the people of Serbia.”

The protests will continue on Monday evening.

Scroll through for a selection of photos of last week’s protests from different cities around Serbia.

Tagged:
Belgrade, Elections, presidential elections, protest, revolt, Serbia, VICE International, VICE Serbia

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