Since the December 17 elections in Serbia, demonstrations demanding the cancellation of the vote have continued. The opposition, which accuses the right in power, which emerged victorious from the vote, of manipulation of the electoral process, is maintaining the pressure. Students organize the blockade of a street in Belgrade this Friday, December 29.
4 mins
With our special correspondent in Belgrade, Jelena Tomic
The kickoff of a new action by activists of the informal group “Students against violence» is planned for Friday December 29 from noon: a street in the center of the capital should be blocked for 24 hours. The location was not chosen at random; this is where the nerve center of the elections is located, the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Autonomy, symbol of the December 17 vote won by the right in power and contested by the opposition.
Request for cancellation of the vote
These politically emancipated young people are demanding the revision of the electoral list which, according to them, is at the origin of the fraud. Another objective: to maintain pressure by continuing to denounce the multiple irregularities noted by both the opposition and international observers during the election, in particular vote buying, ballot stuffing or the illegal participation in Belgrade of Serbian voters. came en masse from neighboring Bosnia.
The blockade should be lifted on Saturday to facilitate access to a major demonstration organized by a group of non-partisan intellectuals. “Proglas” calls for the pure and simple cancellation of the elections of December 17, an overhaul of the electoral process and the organization within six months of a new fair and equitable election.
To listenSerbia: “The legislative elections were neither democratic nor fair”
The opposition to the power in place, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) with a nationalist and conservative tendency, and which claims victory in the last elections, also embodies the protest. Marinika Tepic, head of the coalition against the presidential party list, begins the 11th day of a hunger strike on December 29 that began the day after the election.
“ It is not an act of despair or helplessness, nor of rage or disappointment. We must do it now, in the name of justice, of laws, of truth, because otherwise, we will no longer have elections at all. And then, we must leave a better country for our young people, a country that they will not flee for political reasons. Serbia is drowning in corruption and crime. The government collaborates with mafia clans. We call on the member countries of the European Union to help us form a committee at Parliament or Commission level in order to carry out a complete audit of the electoral process which will allow us to organize within five or six months new elections in good conditions » , she assures.
Protesters arrested
But in the face of demonstrations which continue, the government of President Aleksandar Vucic does not intend to give in anything. At least 41 young people, aged 16 to 25, have been arrested by the police since a demonstration on Sunday December 24, and are being prosecuted for violence and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order. “ The overthrow of the constitutional order by violence is a very serious criminal offense, found in Russia, Belarus or Turkey and in other authoritarian systems », Comments Ivan Ninic, lawyer at the Belgrade Bar. “ This is very worrying for a country that aspires in the 21st century to join the European Union. Our biggest problem is justice, I am thinking of the judges and prosecutors who are an integral part of an authoritarian and corrupt system and serve as the pillar of this power. »
At least seven young people were released in exchange for an admission of the facts, sometimes under duress. Others find themselves under house arrest. Some of them risk up to eight years in prison for collusion with foreigners. “ The government is trying to present these demonstrators as elements serving Western power centers. However, the prosecution did not characterize the facts as such and has no evidence to support this. », continues Ivan Nivic. For the lawyer, the violence observed during last Sunday’s demonstrations was, in the overwhelming majority, perpetrated by hooligans in the pay of those in power and who have enjoyed total impunity for ten years.