Police intervened in multiple locations across Belgrade and Novi Sad during the night of July 2-3, where citizens and students had gathered to set up road blockades,, reports RFE.
Outside the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, the Gendarmerie intervened, with members of the unit reaching the very entrance of the Law Faculty building, as seen in videos published on social media.
The Students in Blockade academic organization from the Faculty of Law announced that police attempted to enter the faculty building, thereby violating university autonomy.
Vuk Cvijić, a journalist for the weekly Radar, witnessed the police action outside the faculty. He told N1, as reported by Beta news agency, that students had blocked the street when police vehicles suddenly arrived and assaulted the students.
“They retreated into the faculty, then [police] even came up to the faculty, while commanders were yelling ‘don’t enter’,” Cvijić recounted, adding that several arrests were made during the incident.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), 23 people were arrested.
MUP Statement and Further Incidents
The MUP also stated that claims implying that police “intended to enter, or did enter, the premises of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, and that police officers arrested individuals who were inside the faculty” are untrue.
“During the establishment of unimpeded traffic flow and the restoration of public order and peace, police acted against individuals who were placing containers, fences, benches, planters, and other obstacles on the intersection’s roadway. During the action, at one point, police, intending to apprehend these individuals, were on the plateau in front of the Faculty of Law, as well as on the faculty steps, but at no point did they enter the faculty premises, respecting the autonomy of the university,” the statement added.
Several hours earlier, clashes between police and citizens occurred on Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. The MUP reported that members of the Police Brigade were attacked at the intersection of that street and Ruzveltova while attempting to apprehend an individual who was disturbing public order and placing containers on the roadway. During this incident, the MUP stated, one police officer was injured and one police vehicle was damaged.
Police interventions also took place outside the Vračar police station on Radoslava Grujića Street and in surrounding areas. Citizens and students had gathered there during the evening, awaiting the release of several detained individuals, including minors, who had been arrested earlier at blockades on Njegoševa Street and near the Law Faculty. After the detained minors were released, the adults who had been taken into custody were reportedly transferred to the duty judge at the Misdemeanor Court in Ustanička. Following their transfer, the crowd outside the station was pushed back by Gendarmerie members who, at one point, intervened more forcefully using batons.
Similar police interventions occurred in other parts of Belgrade where citizens gathered and blocked intersections.
Ongoing Protests and Demands
Road blockades in Novi Sad, which began yesterday evening after 6 PM, continued throughout the night. Citizens again blocked several intersections on Bulevar Oslobođenja, one of the city’s most important thoroughfares, as well as other roads. Bulevar Oslobođenja had been blocked for several hours in previous days as well. Police removed blockades in several places, but citizens would return to the intersections once the police left.
The Students in Blockade academic organization called for civil disobedience following the June 28 rally in Belgrade. A significant portion of students in May demanded new elections after organizing large demonstrations and faculty blockades nationwide, demanding accountability from authorities for the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of the main railway station canopy in Novi Sad on November 1.
