By Aleksandar Vasovic
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serbian anti-corruption protesters, riot police, and supporters of President Aleksandar Vucic faced off in central Belgrade on Saturday as tens of thousands of people turned out for massive anti-government rallies following a night of sporadic clashes.
Police deployed hundreds of officers in full riot gear in and around Pionirski Park, where supporters of Vucic have camped this week inside a ring of parked tractors.
Across the street, hundreds of veterans from elite military brigades in maroon berets and bikers who pledge allegiance to the students lined up along the route where protesters were due to march from 4 p.m. (1500 GMT) in front of the national parliament to Slavija Square. The bikers paraded slowly, revving their engines.
Students also deployed hundreds of security guards from their own ranks, clad in fluorescent yellow vests, and positioned them between police and protesters.
Near-daily student protests began in December following the deaths of 15 people when a roof at a railway station collapsed on November 1 in the northern city of Novi Sad, a disaster opponents blame on corruption under Vucic.
Students, teachers, farmers, and workers have joined the demonstrations in a major challenge to Vucic, a populist who has been in power for 12 years as prime minister or president.
Last December, students issued a set of demands that include the release of documents related to the railway station disaster, and accountability for those responsible.
Thousands of marching students, many travelling hundreds of miles on foot or by bike, descended on Serbia’s capital late on Friday ahead of Saturday’s rally.
Tension and sporadic violence continued overnight and into Saturday.
ARRESTS
In the Zarkovo suburb, a car rammed a column of protesters, injuring three people, and police said they apprehended the driver.
In central Belgrade, a student and a university lecturer were injured in an attack by a group of men early on Saturday, police said.
Three people were also detained after an overnight attack on the tractors stationed around Pionirski Park, they said.
However, the atmosphere among students and other protesters on Saturday was jubilant, almost festive.
Dozens of residents took their propane heaters to the streets offering them hot food. Local grandmothers offered students freshly baked cookies and pies.
In a bid to avert tensions, students said they had moved a stage at the centre of the planned protest from a plateau in front of the parliament building to Slavija Square, about one kilometre away.
“We do not want violence, … we do not want violent raids on (state) institutions,” they said in a statement on Instagram.
On Friday, Vucic said he had asked police to show restraint, but to detain troublemakers.
Authorities expect anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 protesters to rally in the capital, Vucic said. Organizers say they expect many more.
Prosecutors have charged 13 people over the Novi Sad disaster, and the government has announced an anti-corruption campaign. Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and two ministers have also resigned.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
