Serbian govt arrest dozens, fire tear gas at protesters demanding polls

Belgrade [Serbia], June 29 : Police in Serbia fired tear gas and arrested dozens of people in the capital, Belgrade, during clashes with protesters demanding snap elections and an end to President Aleksandar Vucic's 12-year government, Al Jazeera reported.

The protest on Saturday was held after nearly eight months of persistent dissent led by Serbia's university students, which rattled Vucic's firm grip on power in the Balkan country.

The crowd of scores demanded, "We want elections!" as they filled the capital's central Slavija Square and several blocks around it, with many unable to reach the venue.

Dragan Vasiljevic, the director of police, told a news conference that several dozen protesters were detained, while six police officers were injured in the street battles in central Belgrade that lasted several hours, as per Al Jazeera.

Vucic said that protesters attempted to topple the state.

"They [protesters] wanted to topple Serbia, and they have failed," he wrote on his Instagram page, asper Al Jazeera.

The rally - attended by about 1,40,000 people, according to the Independent Protest Monitor, Archive of Public Gatherings - was one of the largest in the student-led demonstrations.

The actions began in December after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad the previous month, killing 16 people. The tragedy became a flashpoint for frustrations with the government, with many Serbians saying that it had been caused by alleged corruption and negligence in state infrastructure projects.

Under pressure, Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned at the start of this year, but Vucic remains in power. Frustrated by government inaction, students have been calling for elections since May.

Ahead of Saturday's protest, organisers issued an "ultimatum" for Vucic to announce elections by 9pm (19:00 GMT) - a demand he had rejected well before the deadline.

As the protest ended, organisers played a statement to the crowd, calling for Serbians to "take freedom into your own hands" and giving them the "green light", Al Jazeera reported.

"The authorities had all the mechanisms and all the time to meet the demands and prevent an escalation," the organisers said in a statement on Instagram after the rally.

"Instead, they chose violence and repression against the citizens. Any radicalisation of the situation is their responsibility."

Hours before the protest at Slavija Square, Vucic's party sent in buses of its own supporters from other parts of the country, many wearing T-shirts reading: "We won't give up Serbia."

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor