Protests erupted in several Serbian cities on Saturday evening as opposition activists and students gathered to denounce what they say is excessive police violence during recent demonstrations.
In Valjevo, a central Serbian city that has become the focus of unrest, crowds began assembling at 7 p.m. local time in front of the town’s high school before marching through the streets. Actors Dragan Bjelogrlić, Milan Marić and Nela Mihajlović led the column, local media reported.
Police detained several demonstrators earlier in the day at checkpoints on roads leading to Valjevo. Officers said they seized pepper spray, masks, helmets and flares from those stopped, according to Serbian media.
In Belgrade, protesters gathered at two locations — Avijatičarski Square in Zemun and a roundabout near the New Belgrade municipal offices — before moving toward the headquarters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). Demonstrators also broke windows at the local office of the Serbian Radical Party in Zemun, local outlets reported.
Smaller rallies were also held in Novi Sad, Požarevac, Čačak, Vranje, Leskovac and Gornji Milanovac. In Novi Sad, groups assembled outside the courthouse, where detained protesters were being questioned.
The protests follow violent clashes in central Belgrade on Friday night, when demonstrators hurled fireworks, bottles and stones at police. Six officers were injured, Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said.
Authorities also arrested a 61-year-old man in Valjevo accused of spreading false claims on social media that a teenage protester had been beaten to death. Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar dismissed the reports as disinformation, saying four protesters had been treated for minor injuries.
Valjevo’s mayor, Lazar Gojković, appealed for calm on Saturday. “I call on citizens to refrain from attacking the police and to end the confrontations,” he said in a statement.