site.btaTension in Central Belgrade as Students Block Intersection Near Serbian National Television
Students clashed with police on Wednesday after blocking Takovska Street and Svetogorska Street in central Belgrade for over 30 hours, as part of a protest outside the headquarters of the national Serbian broadcaster (RTS).
The protesters halted traffic, blew vuvuzelas, and raised their hands, calling on citizens to support them. Police attempted to disperse the students and reopen the intersection, where trolleybuses and buses stood idle and two gendarmerie vans were positioned.
The demonstrators said the blockade is indefinite, demanding that RTS halt its broadcasts because “the public media work against all of us.” They also called for a new selection process for the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM), arguing that “the chosen media experts are politically engaged.”
On the evening of April 14, students who have been blocking over 60 faculties in Serbia for months suddenly barred entrances to RTS in Belgrade and Radio-Television Vojvodina (RTV) in Novi Sad. RTS has not disrupted its usual programming, although its website was briefly inaccessible early Wednesday.
On Monday and again on Tuesday evening, RTS management urged the students to end what they called an “illegal” blockade.
Tensions in Serbia have grown since a railway station roof collapse in Novi Sad on November 1 claimed 15 lives. For four months, protesters, mostly students, have blocked over 60 faculties, accusing the government and President Aleksandar Vucic of corruption. Two ministers resigned, as did Prime Minister Milos Vucevic. On April 7, President Vucic tasked a non-partisan figure, Djuro Macut, to form a new government. On April 15, Macut presented his proposed cabinet in parliament, calling for an end to the protests, echoing Vucic’s earlier appeals for calm.
/NZ/
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