Serbian Ruling Party Office Set on Fire as Unrest Continues

An opposition councillor in the city assembly, Ivan Manic, told N1 at the start of Saturday night’s protest that Valjevo has never before witnessed scenes like the ones seen in recent days.

“The past few days have been the most dramatic in our history. Nothing like this has ever been seen on our streets. The direct responsibility lies with the mayor, the city administration, the ruling SNS, as well as the police department,” Manic said.

The SNS has been the focus of demonstrators’ fury in recent nights, which have seen a major escalation of the months-long student-led protests that have rocked Serbia since the Novi Sad railway station disaster sparked widespread public anger at the SNS-led government last November.

The premises of SNS coalition partners were also attacked during the protests in Valjevo, Novi Sad and the capital Belgrade. In Belgrade, the offices of the Serbian Radical Party, led by war criminal Vojislav Seselj – the party that President Aleksandar Vucic and other SNS leaders used to be part of – were also damaged. In Novi Sad, protesters set fire to the Radical Party’s flag.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday that one policeman was injured in Valjevo. He added that 18 people were arrested, but that number “will [get] bigger for sure”.

“As I said, violations of the law, attacks on the police, attacks on state bodies, state facilities, the property of other political parties and people’s safety will not be tolerated,” Dacic said.

Riot police in Valjevo and Belgrade used tear gas to disperse protesters.

Anger has grown among protesters over incidents of police brutality in recent days. Dusan Radovic, a 25-year-old from Valjevo, was beaten by the police on Thursday night. His father told N1 television that his son was first kicked and beaten on the street with batons, then the beating continued at the police station.

N1 also recorded the testimony of a 16-year-old boy who, together with his friends, was attacked by police while standing in front of a bakery.

On social media, there were reports of another a 16-year-old boy who was seriously injured when he was beaten by police during a protest on August 14 in Valjevo.

The latest wave of protests, which have been marked by clashes between protesters, police and SNS members, started after the violence erupted last weekend in the northern Serbian towns of Vrbas and Backi Petrovac.

Among various well-known Serbians who have been seen at the protests in Valjevo and Belgrade are basketball player Vladimir Lucic, who is team captain at Bayern Munich, and actors Dragan Bjelogrlic, Milan Maric, Nela Mihailovic and Dragan Jovanovic.