(15 Mar 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belgrade, Serbia – 15 March 2025
1. Various of protest with people on street waving Serbian flags
2. People sitting on top of a digger
3. Tractors
4. Police
5. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Andrej Zeljkovic, student protester:
”We are hoping, before all, for a peaceful protest. What is important is that we are not expecting this to be last protest of this kind. It is important to emphasize that people do not expect anything radical or epochal to happen today. It is now our job to gather as many people as possible, to see how many people support freedom and true values.”
6. Various of protest
7. Police in font of the presidency building
8. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Strahinja Djokovic, protester from Ivanjica:
”I am a parent first, a former student, currently a biker and I came here to support students in their requests.”
9. Bikers
10. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Dejan Simic, protester from Belgrade:
”These are our children, our duty is to support children. It is most important to give support to the children. Today (I expect) that everything will end peacefully and that we all go home healthy. That is most important. D-Day definitely doesn’t not exist, this is just the beginning of the end, a process which I hope will end soon.”
11. Top shot of protest near parliament
STORYLINE:
Tens of thousands rallied on Saturday in downtown Belgrade against populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government, the latest in a series of anti-corruption protests that have shaken his 13-year firm grip on power.
A deafening sound of whistles and vuvuzelas echoed throughout the Serbian capital, on high alert since the rally was announced, as people headed toward several agreed-on protest venues.
Some carried banners that read, “He’s Finished!” Others chanted: “Pump it Up,” a slogan adopted during the four months of student-led protests.
It was probably the biggest anti-government rally ever held in the Balkan country.
Reflecting mounting tensions, police said they arrested a man who rammed his car into protesters in a Belgrade suburb, injuring three people.
Ahead of the demonstration, Vucic repeatedly warned of alleged plans for unrest while threatening arrests and harsh sentences for any incidents.
In an apparent effort to prevent people from attending the rally, Belgrade city transport was canceled Saturday while huge columns of cars jammed the roads leading into the capital. The transport company said the cancellation was made “for security reasons.”
Protesting students have led the nationwide anti-graft movement, which started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station and killed 15 people in Serbia’s north on Nov. 1.
Many in Serbia blamed the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations.
Vucic has been claiming that Western intelligence services were behind almost daily student-led protests with an aim to oust him from power.
Students have struck a chord among the citizens who are disillusioned with politicians and have lost faith in the state institutions. Previous student-led rallies in other Serbian cities have been peaceful while drawing huge crowds.
AP video by Nenad Nesic and Vojislav Stjepanovic
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