"Uprising Against Mafia" Protest in Novi Sad, Vucic Calls Organizers Aggressive Civic-Oriented Group

Protest rally "Uprising Against the Mafia" in Novi Sad (BETAPHOTO/DRAGAN GOJIC)

Several thousand citizens gathered in Novi Sad in the evening on July 28, at a protest rally dubbed "Uprising Against the Mafia" over the violence against participants in last week's demonstrations against the adoption of a general urban plan in the city. The demonstrators demanded that those responsible for the violence against citizens be prosecuted, but also that a referendum be held on the Novi Sad General Urban Plan. During the subsequent protest march, they threw balloons filled with paint in different colors at the local chapter of the Serbian Progressive Party, breaking the window in the process. The event was visually dominated by a banner reading "Uprising Against the Mafia," while demonstrators chanted "Everyone take to the streets," to the sounds of drums and whistles. 

Several NGOs organized the protest in Novi Sad, while activists from Belgrade, Zrenjanin and other cities were among the participants, as well as opposition politicians such as Zoran Lutovac (Democratic Party), Biljana Stojkovic, Nebojsa Zelenovic and Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta (Together), Radomir Lazovic and Dobrica Veselinovic (Don't Let Belgrade D(r)own), Marinika Tepic (Freedom and Justice Party), and Miroslav Aleksic (People's Party).

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a TV appearance late on July 28 that the "Uprising Against the Mafia" protest in Novi Sad had been organized by "an aggressive, civic-oriented group." "There is this aggressive group of civic-oriented, I don't want to say anti-Serb oriented [people], who are strongest in the desire to urgently impose sanctions against Russia, to condemn Republika Srpska, to see Serbia withdraw from Kosovo, and they organized those demonstrations this evening," Vucic told Pink TV after the end of the protest in Novi Sad.