site.btaNew Arrests in Belgrade amid Protests and Blockades

On the night of July 2, police detained 23 people in Belgrade, according to the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, as reported by local media.

The police denied widespread claims that law enforcement had violated university autonomy by storming the building of the Faculty of Law.

Students from the Law Faculty stated that the police attempted to knock down and snatch phones from the hands of students and citizens standing in front of the building.

According to eyewitness accounts, the police began hitting people in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

After protesters retreated into the Law Faculty building, police used batons to bang on the closed doors and tried to enter. According to the students, law enforcement withdrew from the area an hour later.

"Police are making arrests without provocation, mainly targeting young people – students, even high schoolers. I asked to go with them to the police station, even though I wasn’t detained," wrote a protesting professor from the Faculty of Biology on social media. She added that some of those arrested were taken to the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade due to injuries.

Professor Oliver Stojkovic from the Faculty of Medicine told the FoNet news agency that one of the students taken to the Military Medical Academy had a broken collarbone and a possible rib fracture.

Among those arrested in Belgrade’s Zemun district was the son of well-known Serbian actor Goran Susljik.

“If at some point your child doesn’t answer their phone, just know they might be in police custody – these are the times we live in,” the father said after recognizing his son in a social media video showing the moment he was arrested by police.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that police officers were attacked in Belgrade at the intersection of King Alexander Boulevard and Roosevelt Street, and one officer was injured while trying to arrest a person who had blocked the road with dumpsters.

Another incident occurred on King Alexander Boulevard when police subdued unruly citizens who hurled insults and threw stones at them.

Serbian authorities requested the removal of a social media account belonging to protesting students for allegedly issuing death threats against police. The prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation.

Groups of students and supporting citizens continued to block intersections in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and other Serbian cities last night.

In Surcin, near Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, a small group of people continuously crossed a pedestrian crosswalk for hours to block traffic. After police intervention, traffic movement for people and vehicles was regulated.

On Thursday morning, public transportation in the Serbian capital was operating on a regular schedule. However, on Wednesday night, shortly before 9:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. Bulgarian time), the city’s public transport was suspended – something that has occurred repeatedly on protest days in recent months.

On July 1, students called for a mass work stoppage and other acts of civil disobedience after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic rejected their June 28 ultimatum demanding early parliamentary elections.

July 1 also marked eight months since the collapse of the concrete canopy at the railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, which caused the deaths of 16 people and left one person with permanent injuries.

The Novi Sad tragedy triggered a wave of public outrage across Serbia, with student-led anti-corruption protests becoming the most serious challenge of President Vucic’s political career.