Serbian police fired tear gas to prevent hundreds of opposition supporters, gathered in front of the city hall in the capital Belgrade, from entering the municipal council building on the evening of Sunday, December 24. The demonstrators are protesting against the results of the elections which took place last week, during which irregularities were pointed out and which gave the presidential party the winner.
The latter threw stones, sticks and eggs at the town hall, breaking windows and trying to force entry. But the demonstrators were pushed back by riot police, who barricaded themselves inside city hall, behind the main entrance. To contain the crowd and keep the demonstrators away, the police use pepper spray and protect themselves behind their shields.
According to the Associated Press, the demonstrators gathered notably shouted “Open the Door” and “Thieves”when some chanted “Vucic is Putin”, comparing the Serbian president, openly pro-Russian, to the Russian president. No injuries were immediately reported.
In response, nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday evening that the claims of fraud were simply ” lies ” blatant messages conveyed by the political opposition. Mr Vucic also suggested that the unrest was provoked from abroad.
Addressing the nation at the same time as the protest outside Belgrade City Hall was taking place, he called the demonstrators “thugs” who would not succeed in destabilizing the State and declared: “ This is not a revolution. They won’t succeed.” “We are doing our best, through our calm and moderate reaction, not to hurt the demonstrators”who came to the event to peacefully protest, he added.
Irregularities pointed out by international observers
United under the banner Serbia against violence (SPN), the opposition, given 23.5% of the votes in the legislative and local elections held on December 17, denounces widespread irregularities during the election. At the end of the latter, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS, nationalist right), the formation of President Aleksandar Vucic, declared that it had won an overwhelming victory, having won 46.72% of the votes, according to the national electoral commission.
The vote attracted widespread criticism after a team of international observers – including representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – denounced a series of“irregularities”notably “vote buying” And “ballot stuffing”.
Since then, hundreds of people have demonstrated daily in front of the Serbian electoral commission, while several opposition MPs have gone on hunger strike to demand the annulment of the vote results and international condemnations have poured in. But the country’s populist authorities deny rigging the election.
Germany has called these alleged frauds“unacceptable” for a country hoping to join the European Union (EU). The United States called on Belgrade to respond to “concerns” election observers, while the EU said that “Serbia’s electoral process requires tangible improvements and further reforms”.
An investigation requested by the prosecutor from the police
In response, on Saturday, the Serbian prosecutor’s office said it had asked police to investigate several alleged irregularities so prosecutors could determine whether there was enough evidence to bring formal charges.
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Numerous cases of alleged irregularities have been reported, including cases of “electoral corruption” and D’“vote buying”said the Belgrade prosecutor’s office in a statement.
“ [Nous] have attached a video recording of two women talking about the alleged delivery of money by an unknown person [pour les faire] vote “, it is particularly underlined. Other reported irregularities include falsified ballots found in Belgrade ballot boxes.
On Sunday, Serbia Against Violence, the party of opposition leader Marinika Tepic, who is among the MPs on hunger strike since Monday, said her health was ” in danger “ and that she had to receive daily infusions. “Despite all this, she does not give up and remains determined to fight until the end to cancel the elections which were brutally stolen”the party said in a statement.