{"id":20373,"date":"2025-07-04T16:34:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T15:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/?p=20373"},"modified":"2025-07-04T16:34:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T15:34:24","slug":"nationwide-street-blockades-grow-despite-mass-arrests-and-police-repression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/nationwide-street-blockades-grow-despite-mass-arrests-and-police-repression\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationwide Street Blockades Grow Despite Mass Arrests and Police Repression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Wednesday evening, police repression escalated. At least 23 students and a professor were arrested as police attempted to enter the Faculty of Law in Belgrade. The Ministry of Interior denies violating the university\u2019s autonomy \u2013 a regulation that prohibits police from entering university grounds unless formally requested by the university administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, arrests have continued and have included prominent local politicians, professors, students, and other university staff members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This morning, several confrontations occurred between protesters and riot police in the center of Belgrade. According to a member of a citizens\u2019 assembly, one person was reportedly arrested for \u201cinsulting an official\u201d by riding a bicycle and shouting \u201cpump it up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dean of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts Says University Is Not and Will Not Be a Place of Fear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At a press conference, Dean Milo\u0161 Pavlovi\u0107 stated that the behavior of top state officials, through institutions and controlled media, represents a deliberate effort to target, discipline, and silence all critical voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Faculty of Dramatic Arts is not and will not be a place of fear, but a space for free thought, creation, and responsibility. We stand for the right to resist, to question, to doubt. We stand for the right to freedom,\u201d Pavlovi\u0107 concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university is demanding an immediate end to the repression, including the targeting of the faculty, and clear guarantees that freedom of expression, artistic work, and academic criticism will not be criminalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SafeJournalists Network Says Situation Out of Control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The SafeJournalists network in the Western Balkans strongly condemned threats, intimidation, attacks, and arrests of journalists and other media workers reporting on protests across Serbia, according to a statement. They write: \u201cWe call on the relevant institutions to act urgently and ensure their protection so they can safely and freely perform a job of vital public interest \u2013 especially at a time when demonstrations against the current regime are taking place daily.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe SafeJournalists network calls on all relevant institutions, especially the police and prosecutor\u2019s office, to conduct thorough investigations without delay into all cases of threats and violence against journalists and to promptly identify and prosecute the perpetrators. We specifically urge the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate the responsibility of its officers and initiate proceedings. The lack of state response further fuels a climate of impunity and jeopardizes the public\u2019s right to be informed,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/PVLMWTfiuuc<\/a>