Hundreds student protesters block Serbia's public television station building in Belgrade скачать в хорошем качестве

Hundreds student protesters block Serbia's public television station building in Belgrade

(11 Mar 2025) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Belgrade, Serbia - 11 March 1. People gathered in front of building housing state TV company RTS 2. Students standing in front of the RTS entrance 3. Wide of people gathered in front of RTS building 4. Wide of students standing in front of RTS building's entrance 5. Man waving Serbian flag 6. Various of students standing in front of RTS building's entrance 7. Various students chanting UPSOUND (Serbian): “Fulfil the requests” 8. People gathered in front of RTS building 9. Woman blowing whistle 10. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) No name given, RTS employee: "We are the RTS employees and we are here to defend the honour and reputation of RTS and our profession. With the same intention, we know that the students are with us and we have supported them in their requests from day one. We invite all our colleagues to join us here." 11. Various of people gathered in front of RTS building 12. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Budimirka Pavlovic, protester: "I am here today because requests have not been fulfilled and because we have to show support." 13. Various of people gathered in front of RTS building 14. Traffic on the street in front of RTS building STORYLINE: Several hundred student protesters blocked Serbia's public television station building in Belgrade on Tuesday as tensions soar in the Balkan country days ahead of a planned large rally over the weekend billed as an endgame in months of anti-government demonstrations. The students first blocked the TV building in central Belgrade, Serbia's capital, late on Monday and several hundred gathered again on Tuesday, after announcing that their blockade will last for at least 22 hours. A similar blockade was organized in the country's second-largest city of Novi Sad. University students in Serbia are behind almost daily rallies that started after a concrete canopy crashed down in November at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people. The protests have rocked populist rule of President Aleksandar Vucic and his firm grip on power. During the late Monday blockade, riot police briefly intervened with batons against the crowd which tried to block one of the entrances to the TV building with metal security fences. At least one plain clothes policemen was injured during skirmishes. The students blame the public TV for bias reporting and siding with President Aleksandar Vucic and the government during the demonstrations. The Serbian president was the guest of the main TV news bulletin on Monday evening, but its yet unclear what exactly triggered the evening protest. Many in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction fell down because of poor renovation work fuelled by government corruption. The students have insisted on full accountability in the tragedy, a call that has garnered widespread support among citizens who are largely disillusioned with politicians and have lost trust in state institutions. Student-led rallies have drawn tens of thousands of people, becoming among the biggest ever in Serbia, which has a long history of anti-government protests. Vucic has described the rallies as a Western-orchestrated ploy to oust him from power. The next big rally is planned on Saturday in Belgrade and Vucic has alleged the protesters “will try to achieve something with violence and that will be the end.” Many demonstrators "will end up behind bars accused of criminal acts,” he added. Authorities have indicted 16 people over the canopy collapse, but many doubt that the actual culprits will face justice. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...