Anti-Government Protesters Invade TV Station in Serbia, Clash with Police (+Videos)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Police resorted to force to evict the protesters who broke into Serbia’s television building, demanding to be put on the air.
In Belgrade demonstrators broke into the state-run Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) building on Saturday, demanding to address the population in images aired live.
There have been weekly opposition protests since December against the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, calling for media freedom as a condition for free and fair elections. State television news has given scant coverage to the protests, The Guardian reported.
Several thousand protesters remained in front of the building as activists chanted “Vučić thief” in the corridors of the building. Anti-riot police later entered the facility and began to take out the demonstrators one by one.
Thousands marched peacefully through the centre of Belgrade on Saturday and protests were also held in several other Serbian towns, including second-largest city Novi Sad.
Vučić has previously said he would not bow to opposition demands for electoral reform and increased media freedom “even if there were five million people in the street”, but said he was willing to test his party’s popularity in a snap vote.
Anti-government demonstrators last stormed the state TV building on 5 October 2000, bringing down the regime of strongman Slobodan Milošević
