From Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 11:24 p.m., updated yesterday at 11:57 p.m.
A man throws a stone at Belgrade City Hall. ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP
The December 17 general election sparked widespread criticism after a team of international observers denounced a series of “irregularities,” including “vote buying” and “ballot stuffing.”
Protesters challenging the results of Serbia's recent parliamentary election attacked Belgrade City Hall on Sunday and smashed windows with stones before being pushed back by police, an AFP journalist noted. Protesters threw rocks, sticks and eggs at the building, smashed windows and tried to force their way in, but were pushed back by police inside.
The police, who mainly used pepper spray, stand behind their shields in front of the main entrance to the town hall. By 10 p.m. (local time) the demonstrators had dispersed.
Two police officers “seriously injured”
Serbian nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic, whose party was declared winner of parliamentary elections on December 17, said two police officers were “seriously injured” in the demonstration while more than 35 people were arrested. He called the incidents an attempt at a “forcible takeover of state institutions,” adding that he had “strong evidence” that “everything was prepared in advance.”
“No one has the right to destroy our house, destroy the property of our country and our citizens or seriously injure our police officers,” said Aleksandar Vucic in the evening, speaking on the pro-government television channel Pink TV. He had previously reiterated that the authorities were “capable” of arresting and bringing to justice those responsible for these incidents. “These scenes are dramatic (…), but there is no revolution underway and (the demonstrators, editor's note) will not win,” he said, also on Pink TV.
In a statement, Serbia's Interior Ministry called on protesters not to use violence and assured that opposition representatives had given a “guarantee that such events would not occur.”
The December 17 vote drew widespread criticism after a team of international observers – including representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – denounced a series of “irregularities”, including “vote buying” and “ballot stuffing”. Hundreds of people demonstrated daily in front of the Serbian electoral commission and there were international condemnations.