Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has declared that “violence cannot defeat Serbia,” and that “Serbia has not stopped, nor will it,” in his comments regarding the student protest and subsequent events in Belgrade on Saturday night. He also stated that he “will not sign any pardons” for those detained.
Serbia’s “Victory” and Accusations
“As I foreshadowed would happen, Serbia won. You cannot defeat Serbia with violence; Serbia has not stopped, nor will it stop. And the numerous facts show it hasn’t stopped; I hope that in a few days, we will open the Pakovraće-Požega section,” Vučić began, listing various achievements, including those of Air Serbia, railway works, and solutions for water supply issues.
Following his promises and enumerations, and after an address by Minister Ivica Dačić, Vučić claimed that “terrorist acts by people who have the right to do whatever they please have been ongoing for seven months.”
“Last night’s announcement that a green light was given is a direct call for civil conflict and attacks on the police. We demand that the prosecution do its job, that they don’t feign ignorance and naivety; the time of accountability is coming,” Vučić stated.
No Pardons for Detainees
He unequivocally declared that he would not sign any pardons or any form of amnesty from criminal prosecution for those arrested. “I will not sign pardons, any kind of abolition from criminal prosecution, when we warned them 500 times not to commit violence. I will distinguish between the Faculty of Architecture and other faculties that said – ‘we think the worst of Vučić, but we will not participate in violence.’ There is a huge difference between them and those who consciously wanted to cause bloodshed,” Vučić asserted.
He added that a larger number of citizens and police officers could have been injured.
“It wasn’t hard to guess what would happen; I told you publicly, even the time, I was off by half an hour because they were half an hour late with the rally. 13 or 14 of them stammered or barely uttered what someone, and very poorly, had written for them,” Vučić remarked about the student rally in Slavija.
He then questioned the protesters’ intentions: “I don’t know what they were thinking, that they are stronger and more powerful than the state? How did you imagine that? Well, the definition of a state is that it has the power of physical coercion. There is no one stronger than the state. Which faculty did you attend? Well, it’s clear you haven’t passed many exams,” he declared.
Vučić concluded by congratulating the police on their “behavior and composure,” as well as their “desire to overcome the attackers with minimal use of force.”
