(8 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belgrade, Serbia – 8 September 2025
1. Various of protesters in front of the Serbian government building
2. A protester carrying a flag depicting Che Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary
3. Various of a person carrying a heart-shaped banner that reads “Students are the heart of Serbia”
4. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Ana Toskic, Cvetinovic, resident of Belgrade:
“It seems to me that things are now evident, that it’s evident that the regime is clinging on to power, and we’re all worried as to how the situation will unfold in the next few months if there isn’t a clear will to call for elections. I think that at some point there will be some change, but until that happens, I think that this regime will do everything to remain in power and to defend their positions.”
5. Various of a protester holding banner reading (Serbian) “Wake up, rise up Serbia”
6. SOUNDBITE, Serbian, Dragana Rakic, opposition lawmaker:
“The situation is indeed very worrying. It’s not just the escalation of violence and the police brutality in Novi Sad that are worrying, we now see that people have been replaced inside the security and military state system, and that is something that induces great fear in us citizens.”
7. Various of protesters walking, chanting, blowing whistles
8. Various of protesters passing by monument
9. Nikolina Sindjelic, a student who accused the Serbian police of sexual violence and torture, speaks at the rally
10. People at protest
11. Various of SIndjelic speaking
12. People at protest
STORYLINE:
Thousands of people led by university students marched through the streets of Serbia’s capital Belgrade to protest against police violence on peaceful protesters in the northern town of Novi Sad, where baton-wielding riot police fired tear gas and charged at thousands who were demanding free elections and justice.
People blew whistles and shouted slogans against the government and President Aleksandar Vucic.
They carried banners that read “Students are the heart of Serbia” and “Wake up, rise up Serbia."
Serbia has been gripped by protests since November, when a train station canopy collapsed in Novi Sad killing 16 people.
Many blamed the tragedy on poor renovation work resulting from widespread corruption in infrastructure projects.
The student-led protests had been largely peaceful for months but turned violent last month, with fresh violence escalating in Novi Sad on Friday, Sept. 5.
The situation has put pressure on Serbia’s increasingly autocratic president Vucic, who has refused the protesters’ demand to call an early parliamentary election.
Vucic has accused the protesters of following orders from abroad to “destroy Serbia,” and promised a crackdown on the nationwide movement led by university students.
One of the protesters, Ana Toskic Cvetinovic, said she believed the regime was"clinging onto power."
"We’re all worried as to how the situation will unfold in the next few months if there isn’t a clear will to call for elections."
AP Video by Marko Drobnjakovic
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