Students from the Faculty of Technical Sciences (FTN) in Novi Sad staged a protest on Thursday demanding the release of fellow student Bogdan Jovičić, who has been on hunger strike for more than a week while in pre-trial detention.
Jovičić, detained since July over his role in anti-government protests, was transferred late Wednesday to a special prison hospital in Belgrade after his health deteriorated, Serbia’s prison administration said.
Support rallies were held in Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac, with demonstrators carrying banners reading “Justice for Bogdan is justice for all” and accusing the government of repression.
The case has drawn criticism after authorities brought Jovičić to his father’s funeral last week in handcuffs and leg irons, treatment usually reserved for high-risk convicts. Opposition politicians and rights groups said the move was degrading and unnecessary.
The opposition Democratic Party (DS) said it had raised Jovičić’s case with European officials in Brussels and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming his life was at risk and information about his condition was being withheld.
Vula Ceci, co-chair of the European Green Party, said in a statement her group “continues to condemn police brutality and unlawful arrests,” calling Jovičić’s case “a stain on Serbia’s European path.”
The Serbian Justice Ministry and the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions said all procedures in the case had been carried out in line with the law.