Overview
- A student-organised mass demonstration in Belgrade drew tens of thousands of people on Saturday, with organisers demanding early parliamentary elections and accusing the government of corruption tied to a deadly Novi Sad station collapse.
- Serbia’s national rail operator suspended train services nationwide that morning, a move critics say was meant to hinder protesters from outside the capital and which drew sharp domestic and international criticism.
- The main demonstration was largely peaceful but later saw clashes about one kilometre from Slavija square when masked individuals attacked police, and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić reported 23 arrests and several injured officers.
- Pressure on state institutions grew when prosecutors linked the dismissed Belgrade police chief Veselin Milić to a mafia murder, reinforcing public concerns about ties between security forces and organised crime.
- President Aleksandar Vučić has proposed elections between September and November, the student movement plans to run its own list, and European and rights bodies have called for restraint, independent probes, and protection of civil liberties.