Hundreds of students shut down the RTS public broadcaster building in Belgrade on Tuesday as part of anti-government protests in Serbia that are expected to escalate this weekend.
Students, the Associated Press reported, had blockaded the building late Monday night. Police tried to push them away while the crowd tried to block an entrance to the building.
They gathered again Tuesday, saying they would stay at least 22 hours.
A similar protest was organized in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city.
Students are leading the demonstrations and protests after the tragedy in Novi Sad when a roof fell on the train station, causing 15 deaths.
They claim that the broadcaster is on the side of President Alexander Vucic and the government.
The president yesterday, Monday, was a guest on the main broadcast. He threatened that law enforcement forces would use violence during Saturday’s protests and said he would not resign because of the demonstrations. “You have to kill me to replace me,” he said.
Significantly, the reporter called the crowd of protesters a “mob,” which the president seemed to agree with.
However, Vucic and RTS had come to blows some time ago. The president had said that RTS’s coverage of events was “stupid” and that journalists were “the shame of the profession.”
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