Belgrade - Saba:
Serbian police arrested a man during a protest in Belgrade, who threatened to blow up the presidential administration building using two grenades, but they were not found.
"Employees of the Interior Ministry in Belgrade arrested and transferred V.B., born in 1972, to the police station, after he stated at around 12:45 (14:45 Moscow time) at the intersection of Knez Miloš Street and Bolivar Kralj Aleksandar Street, to volunteers who were helping to maintain order that he was carrying two grenades with him and wanted to blow up the presidential administration building," Russia Today quoted an Interior Ministry spokeswoman as saying on Saturday. No explosive devices were found during the search."
Groups of students began arriving in the capital on Friday after walking or biking from major cities such as Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac, and others. According to police, the number of protesters on Saturday night amounted to about 31,000 people.
The protests in Serbia have been going on for four months after 15 people died due to the collapse of a canopy at the train station in Novi Sad on Nov. 1, 2024.
According to the announced plan, one of the largest main streets, Kralj Aleksandar Boulevard, near the technical colleges, will be closed, as well as the Otokomanda intersection in the south of the city, and the Novi Belgrade municipal intersection in the western part of the capital.
Serbia's President Aleksandar Vučić said on Friday that Saturday's protest by students and opposition supporters in Belgrade was not authorized by the authorities, but called on police and other government agencies to ensure its full safety.
He added that the responsibility lies with the organizers of the unauthorized protest, noting that anyone who attacks protesters or any protester who attacks others will be arrested. He also urged the police not to use force except in the most necessary cases.
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