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Belgrade protestors demand president, premier to resign

The rally ended without any major incidents

© Pavel Bushuyev/TASS

BELGRADE, March 23. /TASS/. Another rally, during which protesters demanded the resignation of President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic ended without major incidents on Saturday evening, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

"For four months, we have been campaigning for three major things: firstly, the resignation of president Vucic and Prime Minister Brnabic; secondly, the dismissal of the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media’s council; and, thirdly, the resignation of Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic," Serbian actor and politician Branislav Lecic told the crowd.

He vowed that the protestors would take "resolute practical steps" if those demands are not met and if a transitional government, charged with holding early elections within six months, is not formed.

"Thousands will gather for a rally on April 13, and they will go all the way," Lecic said.

After that, the national anthem was played, and the protesters observed a minute of silence in commemoration of victims of the 1999 NATO bombings.

The rally resumed with a speech by Serbian retired general Sreto Malinovich, who criticized current Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin.

After that, the crowd marched to the national TV headquarters to demand the resignation of its top management.

The rally ended without any major incidents late on Saturday with a speech by Lecic, who urged his supporters "to keep fighting" and take to the streets for a similar rally next Saturday.

Belgrade protests

Over the past four months, Serbia has been seeing peaceful rallies of the opposition. However, after an anti-government rally ended on March 16, a small group of protesters led by opposition leader Bosko Obradovic broke into the state TV headquarters in Belgrade. They were forced to leave by riot police units who arrived to the scene shortly after.

President Aleksandar Vucic made a televised address to the nation on Sunday, pointing to the inadmissibility of the protesters’ behavior. He said those responsible will be brought to justice. During the address, protesters broke through police cordons and surrounded the presidential administration, saying they would not let Vucic out. Serbian Police Director Vladimir Rebic said 18 people were detained for taking part in the violent protest, in which six police officers were injured. All the detainees were later released.

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