Several hundred citizens gathered in Novi Sad today to protest the official dismissal of charges against four activists of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), who were previously accused of beating students in the city. The cessation of the criminal proceedings followed Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s decision to pardon the four party activists.
Demonstrators convened at the official residence of SNS President Miloš Vučević, who is the former Prime Minister and former mayor of Novi Sad. Some protesters chanted “Robbery” and “Your hands are bloody.” According to the Novi Sad portal 021, the gathered citizens surrounded a nearby cafe where local SNS officials and activists were present, throwing several eggs at them.
The protest in Novi Sad was called by students currently blocking faculties in the city and citizens organized into informal groups. “Thugs are not heroes,” was one of their messages from the protest.
Vučević Calls Protesters “Nazis”
In a statement on social media, the SNS leader Miloš Vučević declared that “the Vučevićs are stronger than they think” and condemned the protesters for coming to the address where, he said, his family lives. “I feel sorry for the neighbors who have to endure all that,” he added. He labeled the protesters as “terrorists” and “Nazis,” accusing them of “yearning for civil war.”
Novi Sad Mayor Žarko Mićin also reacted, stating that the city had “not experienced such a thing since its inception.” He condemned what he called “an open call for the lynching of the former mayor of Novi Sad and president of the Serbian Progressive Party, Miloš Vučević, and his family.” Mićin described it as “an act of hatred, witch-hunt, and persecution, unprecedented in the city’s history,” calling for “reason” and “restraint from rhetoric and actions that further ignite tensions.”
The attack by SNS activists on students had been the reason for Vučević’s resignation as Prime Minister of Serbia on January 28, when he stated he considered himself “objectively responsible for what happened.” However, four months later, on May 20, he announced from his position as SNS president that his party members would block the courthouse until the accused activists were released from custody. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić initially supported this idea, posting “Freedom to the heroes” with the names of the arrested SNS members on his official Instagram account on May 20. However, they later abandoned these plans.
Accusations Against SNS Activists and Court Decision
The SNS activists were accused of attacking students with baseball bats on the night of January 27-28, as the students were putting up propaganda material near SNS premises in Novi Sad. One female student suffered a dislocated jaw in the attack.
The trial of the four SNS activists began in late April, and in June, all of them were released from custody. At the court hearing on Tuesday, it was announced that the dismissal of charges against them was the only decision the court could make following the pardon.
The decision by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to pardon the activists responsible for the student attack, which led to the government’s fall, has been condemned by student blockades, informal associations of university professors, opposition parties, and non-governmental organizations.
Student protests and faculty blockades began in November 2024 due to the death of 16 people in the collapse of a reconstructed railway station canopy in Novi Sad. The protests primarily demand the establishment of political and criminal responsibility for the disaster.
