Europe’s top human rights official on July 4 raised concerns that Serbian authorities are using violence and arbitrary arrests to break up protests against President Aleksandar VuÄiÄ’s populist government. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty especially decried “the arrest of children, as well as the number of students being charged for criminal offenses or hospitalized for the treatment of injuries.”
Serbian police have recently escalated their use of force to dismantle street blockades and curb large-scale protests denouncing the government and demanding snap parliamentary elections. On July 3, authorities stated that Serbian police detained 79 demonstrators during nationwide rallies in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niť, and Novi Pazar. For the past eight months, students, opposition groups, and civil society organizations have organized persistent anti-corruption demonstrations.
Protests first erupted in the Balkan state following the November 2024 collapse of a Novi Sad railway station canopy that claimed 16 lives, an event that was widely seen as emblematic of years of government negligence. Since June 28, tens of thousands of students and supporters have erected barricades across major urban intersections, staging silent blockades at 11:52âŻAM âŻCETâthe exact time of day when the Novi Sad railway station canopy collapsed.
Police have repeatedly cleared these encampments. According to witnesses, riot police last week attacked participants with baton charges that left four students hospitalized, leading O’Flaherty to condemn the “excessive use of force” and “arbitrary detentions.”
President Aleksandar VuÄiÄ, who remains in power until 2027, has framed the demonstrations as foreignâbacked “terror” plots, praising security forces and rejecting calls for early elections.
As EU scrutiny intensifies over demonstrated human rights violations, the studentâled uprising underscores a broader struggle over democratic governance. Ongoing repression may hinder Serbia’s EU accession bid that formally began in 2012, and reaffirm callsâdomestic and internationalâfor electoral reform and institutional accountability.
From JURIST, July 5. Used with permission.
Photo: VOA via Wikimedia Commons
