Protesters Warn Gov’t Not to Demolish General Staff Buildings in Belgrade

BETAPHOTO/Milan Obradović

A protest called "We Are a Human Wall" was held in front of the General Staff complex in downtown Belgrade on Nov. 11, where protesters warned that they would not "stand by and watch" the demolition of the complex and the "violation of the Constitution and laws" of Serbia.

The protesters called for the termination of a lex specialis for the compound and the restoration of its status of a cultural asset, saying that "this is our first warning" to the authorities and that "we will not give up the army headquarters."

A symbolic red line was painted in front of the compound as a "warning" to the authorities to leave the building alone. The demolition of the General Staff Buildings, the protesters said, meant the destruction of the people's right to remember, an erasure of history and the humiliation of Serbia's citizens.

After the "warning" to the authorities was read, the protesters held a 17-minute silent vigil in honor of those who died in the collapse of the Novi Sad railway station canopy, as well as a student of the Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy who recently died. Opposition representatives were among the gathered, as was former Yugoslav president and Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.