{"id":20429,"date":"2025-08-15T15:17:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/?p=20429"},"modified":"2025-08-15T16:02:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T15:02:53","slug":"tear-gas-and-defiance-serbias-streets-erupt-against-state-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/tear-gas-and-defiance-serbias-streets-erupt-against-state-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Tear Gas and Defiance: Serbia\u2019s Streets Erupt Against State Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Thursday night, for the second night in a row, the country witnessed protests and violence on the streets. These erupted after SNS supporters in Vrbas and Ba\u010dki Petrovac violently attacked protestors. Ma\u0161ina reporters in Belgrade covered the protests from several locations throughout the past few days and documented scores of attacks on citizens from the police and government-sponsored hooligans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On one side \u2013 tear gas, smoke and stun grenades, guns, batons, fireworks, sticks, and stones and on the other \u2013citizens who no longer want to passively spectate. Police threw tear gas \u2013 citizens threw it back. The Gendarmerie pushed citizens and, in some places, citizens pushed them back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything started on Wednesday in the northern town of Vrbas, when at least 70 people were injured by Serbian Progressive Party supporters who, under police protection, attacked citizens with fireworks, stones, and frozen bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the nights of August 14 and 15, citizens took to the streets despite the growing police repression. As of writing, the protests show no signs of stopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The events of these past few days have marked a sharp escalation in the repression of the nine-month-long movement catalyzed in November 2024, when the roof of the recently renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. What exactly has this escalation looked like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/BuDRPmWaTSs\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Demoliranje SNS prostorija u NS\" title=\"Play video &quot;Demoliranje SNS prostorija u NS&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/BuDRPmWaTSs<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/BuDRPmWaTSs\" title=\"Demoliranje SNS prostorija u NS\">Demoliranje SNS prostorija u NS (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/BuDRPmWaTSs)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Vrbas: the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On Tuesday night in the northern town of Vrbas, tensions boiled over when supporters of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), under police protection, attacked citizens with fireworks, stones, and a frozen bottle. At least 70 people were injured, while the number of those who were targeted but did not seek medical help is significantly higher. Among them was Ma\u0161ina\u2019s editor, Marko Mileti\u0107. Following the incident, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement claiming that citizens had attacked SNS supporters and police officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ma\u0161ina reported on the ground and witnessed SNS supporters attacking peaceful citizens, while the police mostly stood by passively \u2013 in some moments even turning their shields toward unarmed citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane\" title=\"Play video &quot;Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g\" title=\"Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane\">Napad pristalica SNS-a na policiju i gra\u0111ane (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/uZPrB7U7J0g)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, national police director Dragan Vasiljevi\u0107 stated: \u201cThe police had advance notice of the gatherings, but we thought they would pass without conflict. The crowd headed toward the SNS offices, in front of which several hundred party supporters had gathered. It must be made clear that SNS supporters were not going anywhere to attack someone; they were simply in front of their party offices. The essence is that in both Vrbas and Ba\u010dka Palanka, citizens gathered with the obvious intention of clashing with SNS supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The protest in Vrbas initially began in response to the organized bussing-in of SNS activists from other towns, locals told Ma\u0161ina. Around 9:30 p.m., SNS supporters began launching firework projectiles at the protesters. The police director stated that complete calm was only restored around 6 a.m., and that there were gatherings in Kragujevac, Ni\u0161, and Belgrade as well. \u201cWe did not protect one group, but public order and peace, and we did not allow a clash between citizens,\u201d Vasiljevi\u0107 said\u2014despite numerous videos showing the exact opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the wake of the events in Vrbas, late Tuesday night, people in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Ni\u0161 took to the streets to stand in solidarity with those attacked by the ruling party\u2019s hooligans. Clashes broke out while police diligently safeguarded the Serbian Progressive Party\u2019s offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Thousands of protesters face off with military special forces<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The anger that has been simmering for many \u2014 not only over the past year but over decades under a neoliberal and dictatorial government \u2014 was palpable on Wednesday evening. Protests were organized in over 20 towns across Serbia, with five locations in the capital, Belgrade, alone, to denounce the ruling party\u2019s attacks on protesters in Vrbas and Ba\u010dki Petrovac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In countless locations, police used tear gas, smoke bombs, and violently beat protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Novi Sad saw the most serious escalation on Wednesday evening. The office of the ruling party was set on fire, and protesters smashed the windows. Ruling party hooligans fired fireworks, stones, and other objects from within the premises\u2014with impunity and under police protection. At one point, a man emerged from the office carrying a gun, which, according to witnesses, he allegedly fired into the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interior Minister Da\u010di\u0107 stated that the man was a Serbian Army warrant officer \u201con an official mission to protect a VIP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn this attack, there was a real danger of loss of life. The man, in accordance with the law, used\u2014or rather, did not use but carried\u2014an official weapon. Warrant Officer Vladimir Brku\u0161anin of the Serbian Army was himself seriously injured. If he hadn\u2019t drawn his service pistol and used it, I\u2019m sure he and others would have suffered serious consequences, perhaps even lost their lives,\u201d Da\u010di\u0107 told the government-affiliated TV channel Informer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is unknown who the VIP in question was. Lieutenant General \u0110uro Jovanovi\u0107, head of the Military Security Agency, said at a press conference that \u201cmembers of the Serbian Army\u2019s special military police unit, the Cobras, were attacked while performing their regular duties securing a certain individual. During the attack by unknown persons using physical force, sticks, various objects, torches, and other pyrotechnics, seven Serbian Army members were injured, four of them seriously. The soldiers repeatedly warned the attackers that they were authorized officials, that they were members of the army, but the attackers refused to stop and continued their assaults,\u201d Jovanovi\u0107 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/Z4T2OcO1JTk\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Na Slaviji i dalje sukobi izme\u0111u gra\u0111ana i policije\" title=\"Play video &quot;Na Slaviji i dalje sukobi izme\u0111u gra\u0111ana i policije&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/Z4T2OcO1JTk<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/Z4T2OcO1JTk\" title=\"Na Slaviji i dalje sukobi izme\u0111u gra\u0111ana i policije\">Na Slaviji i dalje sukobi izme\u0111u gra\u0111ana i policije (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/Z4T2OcO1JTk)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Police continue their brutality into Thursday evening<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In clips widely circulated from the western city of Valjevo, scores of police officers can be seen tackling two protesters who were running away and appeared to pose no threat, then proceeding to beat them for several minutes with their batons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students of the Valjevo Gymnasium stated: \u201cWe have reached a point of no return, where local sheriffs are ready even to kill their own future for someone else\u2019s interests and to protect a corrupt system they have been part of for many years,\u201d adding that last night they witnessed unprecedented brutality from the Ministry of Interior \u2013 \u201cbrutal attacks, coordinated actions, and extreme hatred toward everything free and incorruptible in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The students have called for a massive protest tomorrow, Saturday, August 16, at 7 p.m. in response to the brutality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/8n7WYBZXkuA\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Policija interveni\u0161e i tu\u010de gra\u0111ane\" title=\"Play video &quot;Policija interveni\u0161e i tu\u010de gra\u0111ane&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/8n7WYBZXkuA<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/8n7WYBZXkuA\" title=\"Policija interveni\u0161e i tu\u010de gra\u0111ane\">Policija interveni\u0161e i tu\u010de gra\u0111ane (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/8n7WYBZXkuA)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Politician beaten for filming government hooligans<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Party of Freedom and Justice opposition politician Pe\u0111a Mitrovi\u0107 told N1 that on Thursday night he was beaten near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, where he had tried to record hooligans who had \u201cbeen throwing firecrackers, flares, fireworks, and other pyrotechnics at citizens all evening from behind police lines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo, they were using the police as a human shield to attack citizens. The police, instead of dispersing them, dispersed the demonstrators,\u201d Mitrovi\u0107 said. According to him, this was a coalition of hooligans, SNS, and parts of the police aiming to carry out violence against citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThen seven or eight of them, wearing balaclavas and carrying metal rods, charged at me. They cornered me against the fence near the MFA, hit me on the body and head. I got a head wound that was bleeding heavily \u2014 blood was pouring out of me \u2014 and I had to get stitches,\u201d Mitrovi\u0107 told N1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also claims that the Gendarmerie and several police patrols passed by him while he was bloody and running from hooligans \u2014 but no one stopped to ask if he needed help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ma\u0161ina and other journalists reporting under difficult conditions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After Ma\u0161ina\u2019s editor Marko Mileti\u0107 was struck multiple times by stones, frozen bottles, and fireworks during the events in Vrbas, and N1 cameraman\u2019s assistant Andrej Stamenkovi\u0107 was hit twice by stones \u2014 in the shoulder and stomach \u2014 Ma\u0161ina\u2019s reporters have repeatedly faced harassment while reporting from the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the protests, police officers repeatedly shoved Mileti\u0107 despite his press vest and accreditation. Several times, police pushed and hit him with their shields, lunged at him, and moved him away from the protest despite his journalistic designation being clear and visible. Near the end of the protest by the Faculty of Agriculture, a tear gas canister flew past his head. Police officers also shoved Ma\u0161ina reporter Ana Milosavljevi\u0107 to prevent her from filming an arrest in downtown Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"container-lazyload preview-lazyload container-youtube js-lazyload--not-loaded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/NtSSKMnx0ww\" class=\"lazy-load-youtube preview-lazyload preview-youtube\" data-video-title=\"Novinar Ma\u0161ine pogo\u0111en fla\u0161om i vatrometom\" title=\"Play video &quot;Novinar Ma\u0161ine pogo\u0111en fla\u0161om i vatrometom&quot;\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/NtSSKMnx0ww<\/a><noscript>Video can&#8217;t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/NtSSKMnx0ww\" title=\"Novinar Ma\u0161ine pogo\u0111en fla\u0161om i vatrometom\">Novinar Ma\u0161ine pogo\u0111en fla\u0161om i vatrometom (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/NtSSKMnx0ww)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Independent Journalists Association of Serbia released a statement on Thursday counting 10 separate attacks on journalists reporting on Wednesday\u2019s protests, including physical assaults, verbal abuse, and damage or destruction of equipment. They wrote in a statement: \u201cJournalistic and media organizations from Serbia and the region strongly condemn the continuous attacks on journalists and media workers during coverage of events of public importance, as well as the brutal assaults by police officers. These organizations demand that the police and all citizens stop attacking, threatening, and intimidating journalists and media workers, and ensure they can work under normal and safe conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em>A.G.A, I.P., A.M.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tear gas, smoke bombs, police beatings, and the military. The second day of mass protests in Serbia has been marked by arrests, police brutality, attacks on journalists and government impunity. However, citizens do not appear to be backing down. What exactly has transpired on the streets of Serbia these past three days?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[345,354,296],"form":[71],"concept":[188],"contents":[153],"coauthors":[5],"class_list":["post-20429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-police-brutality","tag-protests","tag-repression","form-news","concept-society","contents-society","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-25"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tear Gas and Defiance: Serbia\u2019s Streets Erupt Against State Violence - Ma\u0161ina English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masina.rs\/eng\/tear-gas-and-defiance-serbias-streets-erupt-against-state-violence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tear Gas and Defiance: Serbia\u2019s Streets Erupt Against State Violence - Ma\u0161ina English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tear gas, smoke bombs, police beatings, and the military. The second day of mass protests in Serbia has been marked by arrests, police brutality, attacks on journalists and government impunity. However, citizens do not appear to be backing down. 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