Tensions soar in Serbia as protesters clash with police
They set fire to the party's offices before clashing with riot police in a downtown area.
Police threw multiple rounds of tear gas and charged at the demonstrators who hurled bottles, rocks and flares at them.
Similar clashes also erupted on Saturday evening in Belgrade, with police directing tear gas at protesters while battling the protesters who set rubbish containers on fire.
The protesters in Valjevo turned out onto the streets to protest against what they allege is police brutality.
There were no immediate reports on the numbers of injured people in either Valjevo or Belgrade.
Serbia has been gripped by protests since November, when a train station canopy collapse killed 16 people. Many blamed the tragedy on poor renovation work resulting from widespread corruption in infrastructure projects.
The student-led protests had been largely peaceful for months but turned violent this week. The situation has put pressure on Serbia's increasingly autocratic president Mr Vucic, who has refused the protesters' demand to call an early parliamentary election.
Mr Vucic has accused the protesters of following orders from abroad to 'destroy Serbia', and promised a crackdown on the nationwide movement led by university students.
The protest in Valjevo drew several thousand people after a video on social media showed a young man from the town being severely beaten by police who kicked him and hit him with batons during a protest earlier this week.
The gathering was peaceful until groups of protesters threw flares at the SNS offices which sparked a fire inside.
The incident marks the second such attack on the SNS party offices this week after protesters demolished the party headquarters in the northern city of Novi Sad on Wednesday.
Clashes between the SNS party loyalists and police on one side and anti-government protesters on the other side have erupted every evening since then. Dozens of people have been injured and scores have been detained.
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, has called for 'calm and respect of the right to peaceful assembly'.
'Serbian authorities must uphold Council of Europe standards,' he said on X this week.
Serbian police have denied reports of brutality, saying they have been attacked and that dozens of officers have been injured in the rioting.
Serbia is formally seeking EU membership, but Mr Vucic has maintained strong ties with Russia and China. The Serbian president has faced accusations of stifling democratic freedoms while allowing organised crime and corruption to flourish. He has denied this.
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The Herald Scotland
5 hours ago
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Serbian leader vows tough response to protesters following riots
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Glasgow Times
7 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
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North Wales Chronicle
8 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Serbian leader vows tough response to protesters following riots
In one of his frequent TV addresses to the public, Mr Vucic accused the anti-government demonstrators of 'pure terrorism' and re-iterated his claims that months of persistent protests against his rule have been orchestrated in the West and aimed at destroying Serbia. 'Our country is in grave danger, they have jeopardised all our values, normal life, each individual,' Mr Vucic said, alleging an elaborate scheme that would eventually install 'anarcho-leftist' authorities in the future. He did not offer any concrete evidence for his claims. 'Unless we undertake tougher steps it is a question of days when they (protesters) will kill someone,' Mr Vucic said. 'I am saying this for history.' The stern warnings came after five consecutive nights of clashes between the protesters on one side and police and Mr Vucic's loyalists on the other. Angry protesters on Saturday evening torched Mr Vucic's governing Serbian Progressive Party offices in a town in western Serbia, and of other ruling coalition allies. The demonstrators on Saturday evening also clashed with police in Belgrade, the capital, and in the northern city of Novi Sad. Riot officers used tear gas against demonstrators who hurled stun grenades, flares and bottles at them. Mr Vucic did not specify what will be the state response that he said would come within a week. But he stressed that a state of emergency is not imminent. Scores of people already have been detained and injured in the past days while police have faced accusations of excessive force and arbitrary detentions of protesters. 'You will witness the determination of the state of Serbia,' Mr Vucic said. 'We will use everything at our disposal to restore peace and order in the country.' The clashes this week marked a major escalation following more than nine months of largely peaceful demonstrations that started after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia's north, killing 16 people. Many in Serbia blamed the tragedy on alleged widespread corruption in state-run infrastructure projects that they say fuelled poor renovation work. The Serbian president has faced accusations of stifling democratic freedoms while allowing organised crime and corruption to flourish. He has denied this. Serbia is formally seeking EU membership, but Mr Vucic has maintained strong ties with Russia and China. On Sunday, he praised Russia's backing for his government against what he called a 'coloured revolution' against his government.
