Thousands Attend Student-Led Protest in Novi Sad

Photo: PrintScreen rts.rs

Several thousand people assembled at a June 20 protest in Novi Sad, where university students and other citizens made noise using whistles, horns and drums.

Numerous flags and T-shirts with the slogan "The students will win" could be seen. Other signs read that the protesters are not foreign-paid agitators and that the protests are not a "color revolution," but an "uprising against systemic corruption."

Any mention of the name of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic drew so much noise from those present that the speaker was drowned out. Former police inspector Sinisa Carevic said the police is an institution that must enjoy the trust of society to be able to discharge its fundamental duties - fighting crime and corruption.

Both the student protest movement of the Novi Sad University and high schoolers and local citizen assemblies called for the protest. Many people came to the demonstration from other cities and brought the flags of their hometowns such as Subotica, Vrbas and Zemun. The rally was part of months of activities by the student movement across Serbia and was the first major event since the mass protest at Belgrade's downtown Slavija square on May 23. The next major student-led rally was announced for June 28 in Kraljevo.