In Belgrade, the violent opposition protest ended late yesterday evening as supporters laid siege to the city hall for hours and attempted to break into the building several times.
For the seventh consecutive day, Serbia Against Violence, the largest opposition group, organized an anti-government demonstration to denounce alleged fraud in the December 17 parliamentary and administrative elections. But the rally, which as usual took place in front of the headquarters of the electoral commission, quickly degenerated into a violent protest, with several thousand demonstrators heading towards the nearby town hall to attack it. Many tried several times to overcome the fences and enter the building, which huge police forces in riot gear arrived to defend.
Against the violent demonstrators, who have long targeted the city hall with eggs, plastic bottles, tomatoes and other objects, the police used tear gas to disperse the groups of troublemakers.
Some entrance doors to the town hall and several windows were destroyed. In the end, the police managed to form a dense chain of officers around the town hall and push the demonstrators back into the side streets and towards Slavija Square.
As reported in the evening by President Vucic, who called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, at least 35 violent demonstrators were arrested on charges of attempting to attack institutions. Several police officers were injured, two of them seriously, by stones and other objects. According to outgoing Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic, last night's events in Belgrade can be compared to the 2014 Maidan uprising in Kiev, which began with anti-government protests in the Ukrainian capital's central square in early 2014.
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