Social protests 24 September 2020 Students gathered around the initiatives "Let's protect students" protested on 24 September 2020 on the plateau in front of the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade, demanding the reduction of schools due to the economic consequences of the corona epidemic.
29 September 2020 Professors, associates and students of the Faculty of Philology demanded an urgent scheduling of the sessions of the Scientific-Teaching Century at the protest on the Plateau in front of the Faculty of Philosophy on 29 September, at which the proposal for a new dean will be voted on. Leon Cohen, a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, who is one of the signatories of the letter to his shocking colleagues from the Faculty of Philology, said that he was protesting that such an act would affect the autonomy of the university, and that no matter what he did, he would set an example at the Faculty of Philology. Professor of the Faculty of Philology Iva Draškić Vićanović said that for the first time since 2006, several faculty commissions and bodies that calculated for the election of the dean of that faculty, scheduled for 21 September, were trained at that faculty. The students were addressed by actors
Svetlana Bojković and
Milan Mihajlović.
5 October 2020 Students organised a protest in front of
Ministry of Education headquarters after not being met with assistant minister of education, despite being promised a meeting with him.
Nemanjina Street was blockaded for 3 hours by the protesters.
2–26 December 2020 Between 2 and 26 December 2020 owners and workers of small businesses held several protests in front of ministry of finance demanding financial help, they received no response. During the protest on 26 December one protester got sick and fell on the ground, another protester tried to help him until ambulance arrived, he died while in an ambulance vehicle. Protest was ended early and further protests weren't held after this event.
Freelancer protests 30 December 2020 On 30 December, several hundred members of the Association of Internet Workers held a protest in front of the building of the Ministry of Finance and the Government of Serbia, because the Tax Administration sent more than 2,000 "requests for control" to those who earn money from that job. The gathered people carried banners that read, among other things: "Debt slavery for our children", "Do not destroy freelancers", "The center of corruption is the government", "Tax - yes". Harach - no.
16 January 2021 Internet workers and other freelancers protested in Belgrade on 16 January 2021, asking the state to abandon the measures by which they were retroactively taxed five years ago. After the protest in front of the Assembly of Serbia, they walked through the central city streets to the building of the Government of Serbia, and then to Trg Slavija. A representative of the Association of Workers on the Internet, which organized the protest, Miran Pogacar, said that during the protest, an invitation arrived from the office of Prime Minister
Ana Brnabic to come to the Government on Monday, 18 January, to start negotiations.
7 — 10 April 2021 Freelancers began a protest in front of the National Assembly on 7 April by setting up tents and announced that they would camp there for the next three days, dissatisfied with the new proposal of the Government of Serbia on amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax, which regulates their position. They asked the Government of Serbia to withdraw the proposal on changes to that law and to sit down with the freelancers at the table again in order to find a compromise solution that would suit both the state and the workers on the Internet and regulate their position. They are asking the Government of Serbia to withdraw the proposal on changes to that law and to sit at the table again with freelancers in order to find a compromise solution that will suit both the state and workers on the Internet. The protest walk of freelancers organized by the Association of Workers on the Internet was held the next day with the message that they should not give up their demands for resolving the issue of tax collection. In front of the National Assembly, they reiterated their request to withdraw the amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax from the procedure and to sit at the negotiating table with the representatives of the Government of Serbia. The president of the Association of Internet Workers, Miran Pogačar, told Tanjug that freelancers will stay in front of the Assembly for three days, that they will hold a protest tomorrow at 11 am, and that he will join the "Ecological Revolt" protest announced for Saturday, 10 April. A protest called "Ecological Uprising" was organized in front of the Serbian Parliament on Saturday, 10 April, at which the authorities are asked to respect the Constitution and existing laws and harmonize regulations with the highest environmental standards, with equal participation of citizens and non-governmental organizations. The gathered people went on a protest walk towards the Government, and then towards RTS. The gathering "Ecological Uprising" started around 13:20, with a band with percussion instruments, and then the representatives of the Association "Let's Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina" came on stage and took out the state flag, and a song about Stara Planina was broadcast from the sound system. On the plateau in front of the parliament, where the stage is set, on the street and in Pionirski Park, a large number of people gathered with banners with, among other things, the messages: "I'm afraid to breathe", "Rivers save because water is worth", "I carry black for all victims of pollution "," We have given you pensions, we will not give you air and rivers", "I want to breathe".
Protests against vaccination in 2020/21 7 September 2020 A group of citizens gathered at noon on 7 September in front of the "Trampoline" Institute to protest against, as they say, the announced trials of vaccines against the corona virus. The protest came after the Reuters news agency reported two days earlier that Serbia, together with Pakistan and two other countries, had agreed to participate in the testing of the corona virus vaccine produced by the Chinese company CNBG. Minister of Health
Zlatibor Lončar denied, saying that the conditions for such testing to be done in the country have not been met, saying that the officials will be the ones who will appear before the public if something like that happens. The protest was led by Dr.
Jovana Stojković, who told the gathered that the Minister of Education announced that the children would be taken away from their parents if they were not vaccinated, so the gathered people carried banners "We will not give you children". Stojković connects vaccines with billionaire
Bill Gates and claims that there is no evidence that vaccines are safe and that they can cause serious side effects. They also gathered against the announcement that children who will have symptoms of the corona virus during their stay at school will be tested without the consent of their parents. There were several members of the MUP around the "Trampoline" building, the protest was peaceful and rarely any of the participants wore protective masks.
10 October 2020 On 10 October, parents of missing babies held a protest rally in Belgrade's Republic Square with the aim of once again drawing public attention to the fate of children, who they believe were abducted at birth and then sold or given up for adoption. They also gathered to call on the competent institutions in Serbia to shed light on the circumstances under which their children disappeared. The Law on Determining the Facts on the Status of Newborn Children, which is suspected to have disappeared from a maternity hospital in Serbia, entered into force on 11 March 2020, and Article 17 stipulates that the deadline for initiating court proceedings is six months from the date of entry. to force. The main objections raised by the parents to the law are that it offers parents monetary compensation, instead of answering the question of what happened to their children. The Protector of Citizens of Serbia, Zoran Pašalić, said on 11 September, the day when the legal deadline for initiating court proceedings to establish the facts about missing babies expired, that the state of emergency introduced due to the COVID-19 epidemic should be extended for more than a month and a half. In that period, all deadlines in court proceedings ceased to run by a decree of the Government of Serbia. From the moment the law was passed onwards, the parents of the missing babies considered everything that happened to be "stretching and gaining time". Serbia was obliged to pass a special law, which would be the legal framework for resolving all cases of "missing babies", by the judgment of the
European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg from 2013 in the case of one of Zorica Jovanovic's mothers. The verdict handed down in 2013 by the European Court of Human Rights against Serbia in the case of Zorica Jovanovic, who sued the state for failing to get an answer to the question of what happened to a baby who was told she died in a maternity hospital in Cuprija for more than thirty years. the day after birth, was the key moment. The verdict ordered that the issue of missing children must be resolved systematically, and the bill was in the Assembly almost six years after the expiration of the deadline that Serbia received from the Council of Europe. In Serbia, more than 2,000 parents, gathered in associations, are looking for the truth about babies born two, three or more decades ago, who were told in maternity hospitals that they died, which they suspect, because many of them never received children's bodies or supporting documentation.
Environmental Protests Pipe breakage on the Rakiti river on 15 August 2020 Activists of the movement "Let's Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina", with the support of the initiative "Let's not drown Belgrade", on Saturday, 15 August, broke a pipe in Rakitska Reka set up for the construction of a mini hydroelectric power plant (MHE), making it impossible. In the village of Rakita in southeastern Serbia, several hundred activists from different parts of Serbia gathered, as well as the surrounding countries, who, together with the inhabitants of this village, oppose the construction of SHPPs. During the "action", the police did not intervene and there were no incidents. By the decision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection from 4 January 2019, the investor was forbidden to perform works on the construction of SHPPs in the village of Rakita and was ordered to renew the terrain and return it to its original condition, i.e. to remove about 300 meters of already installed pipes from the riverbed. Activists of the movement "Let's Defend the Rivers of Stara Planina" pointed out that, for more than a year, the pipes are still in the same place. They added that the local population and volunteers sent a notification about the action of removing the pipe to the municipality of Babusnica, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Construction, Traffic and Infrastructure. Dissatisfied residents of the village of Rakita, located between Stara and Suva planina, have organized protests since the beginning of construction, in July 2017, as well as attempts to block the construction site. They also sent several requests to the authorities to respond to the events in Rakita. The protest was joined by environmental activists who spontaneously began to gather at locations on Stara and Suva planina, where the construction of SHPPs began.
Protest 10 January 2021 Organized by the "Eco Guard", on 10 January 2021, several thousand people protested on Belgrade's Slavija Square, followed by a protest walk to the building of the
Government of Serbia. The demonstrators demanded that urgent measures be taken to reduce chronic mass air pollution in Serbia.
20 March and 3 April A protest against the corona virus and new measures by the Serbian government began in the central Republic Square in Belgrade on Saturday, 20 March, at around 3:30 p.m., and anti-closure protests were organized on the same day in several other European cities. At the next protest on 3 April, several thousand citizens gathered on the Republic Square in Belgrade for the so-called "Protest for Freedom". Citizens who did not wear protective masks, nor did they respect physical distance, protested against epidemiological measures, the closure of the economy and schools. The organizer of the gathering, Ivica Božić, called for a change in the system in Serbia, due to the "consequences of 76 years of destruction of the people" and the abolition of the Crisis Staff for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. He asked for debate shows to be organized on the Serbian Radio and Television and to explain the "harmful and good sides" of the vaccine. Among those gathered is Jovana Stojković, who was among businessmen two days before 1 April due to spreading false news about vaccination. One of the organizers of the protest, the Enough is Enough movement, in the announcement of the protest called for the defense of "freedom and protection of constitutionally guaranteed rights". The "Protest for Freedom" rally ended on Sava Square, in front of the monument to
Stefan Nemanja, where the participants played a round.
Protest 7 — 10 April 2021 Freelancers began a protest in front of the National Assembly on 7 April by setting up tents and announced that they would camp there for the next three days, dissatisfied with the new proposal of the Government of Serbia on amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax, which regulates their position. They asked the Government of Serbia to withdraw the proposal on changes to that law and to sit down with the freelancers at the table again in order to find a compromise solution that would suit both the state and the workers on the Internet and regulate their position. They are asking the Government of Serbia to withdraw the proposal on changes to that law and to sit at the table again with freelancers in order to find a compromise solution that will suit both the state and workers on the Internet. The protest walk of freelancers organized by the Association of Workers on the Internet was held the next day with the message that they should not give up their demands for resolving the issue of tax collection. In front of the National Assembly, they reiterated their request to withdraw the amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax from the procedure and to sit at the negotiating table with the representatives of the Government of Serbia. The president of the Association of Internet Workers, Miran Pogačar, told Tanjug that freelancers will stay in front of the Assembly for three days, that they will hold a protest tomorrow at 11 am, and that he will join the "Ecological Revolt" protest announced for Saturday, 10 April.
Protest on 6 November 2021 A protest organized by the group "Ekološki ustanak" (
Ecological Uprising) took place in front of the
Radio Television of Serbia building in Belgrade. The participants demanded swift removal of the
Rio Tinto commercial from the national television and the prohibition of the company advertising by the Electronic Media Regulatory Body. They also demanded revocation of all commitments to Rio Tinto by the
Serbian government, and publishing the memorandum of understanding between the government and the company signed in 2017. From the national television was requested to organize a prime-time debate between scientists, affected residents, and
activists on one side and Rio Tinto representatives on the other side. The speakers included residents of the affected areas, actress Svetlana Bojković, the Dean of the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade Ratko Ristić, environmental activist Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta, and others.
Protest on 19 November 2021 On 19 November 2021 a few hundred people gathered in front of the
Radio Television of Serbia building in Belgrade at 19:00. The organizer was the citizen group Kreni-Promeni and the protest was in response to the refusal of the
public television to broadcast the ad titled "Serbia is not for sale" (Srbija nije na prodaju). The ad was providing contra arguments to the prime-time Rio Tinto daily commercial. It had been produced by Kreni-Promeni and supported by donations. The national television received the necessary documentation and payment earlier in the week; however, they had not started broadcasting it. An improvised theatre was created, and the ad was played over a video beam to the gathered citizens. The actors and Viktor Savić who starred in the ad spoke. Stupljanin and Savić pointed out that it had nothing to do with politics. Stupljanin said: "It is really important for us all to realize that this is not a political battle; this is above politics. This is like when the national team is playing - it does not matter whether you support
Zvezda or
Partizan". She added that a complaint had been filed against Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). RTS responded in a statement that they had not received all the necessary paperwork and that was the reason for their refusal. Sava Manojlović, the president of the organization Kreni-Promeni said that the Expropriation Law and the Referendum Law have been created for Rio Tinto. "First it will be the residents of Jadar, but then what happens there could happen to any resident of Serbia ... the government would take over their grandparents' property", he said. He added that the highways in Serbia would be blocked if the laws are passed. "If Serbia wants to move forward, it first must stop", Manojlović said. a one-hour blockade of roads in Serbia was held in Belgrade and other towns organized by several environmental organizations. Hundreds of people appeared simultaneously in the capital Belgrade, the northern city of
Novi Sad and other locations (
Šabac,
Požega,
Kosjerić,
Preljina,
Kragujevac,
Brezjak, close to the village of
Gornje Nedeljice where the proposed mine would be built) to block main bridges and roads for one hour in what organizers described as a warning blockade. They pledged further protests if the laws on expropriation and referendum weren't withdrawn. The biggest and hardest was in Šabac, but the conflicts between the protesters and the police also happened in Belgrade and Novi Sad. According to some posts on social networks, a group of people attacked protesters with bats in Šabac, and a bulldozer was moved through the crowd. Some news outlets report that the incidents were initiated by the paramilitary connected with the government. Organizers said a number of people have been detained. The organizers stated the demands for revocation of the laws on referendum and expropriation, believed to be paving the way for Rio Tinto's lithium mine in western Serbia. The protests unfolded mainly peacefully with only sporadic incidents, as the uniformed police were not present at the scene. The protests lasted for about 2 hours. The demonstrators were holding Serbian flags and sporadically using whistles and trumpets. Zelenović, who heads the Green-Left coalition, expressed support for two additional demands (resignation of the president of the Electronic Media Regulatory Body and cancellation of all obligations towards Rio Tinto), while Manojlović opposed the move because, as he stated "the story would be diluted", and he compared the move to the
1 of 5 million protests which failed due to adding demands during protests. Two days later, Manojlović asserted that the protests wouldn't end until the demands were met. On 8 December, during the "Morning Program" on
RTS, actors Marko Grabež and Nedim Nezirović voiced support for the upcoming protests. Following the announcement that Vučić had withdrawn the expropriation law and amended the referendum law, Manojlović controversially declared the "big national celebration" and called for a celebration to be held in Belgrade. He later overturned his statement saying that there could be no celebration while others continue to fight, and stated that "we cannot trample on the word we have given" and that no one should have monopoly over the protests. Other leading organizations stated their support for the continuation of the protests. On the day of the protests, Vučić stated that "all wishes of the protesters have been fulfilled". Organizers announced that roads in 50 cities would be blocked, and over 40 organizations participated in the protests. Manojlović and his "Kreni-Promeni" organization did not participate. After the two main demands were adopted by the government, the protesters continued to demand that Rio Tinto leaves Serbia. Although this time, the protests were only held for an hour do to
rain and bad weather. In Belgrade, a group of
right-wing and
anti-vax activists participated in the protests, and a group of pro-government activists waved pro-Rio Tinto slogans. Serbian diaspora also held protests in
Brussels,
Prague,
Washington, D.C., Berlin, New York City and London. During the protests, Ćuta affirmed that "the protests won't stop until Rio Tinto leaves Serbia". Following the protests, minister
Mihajlović stated that Ćuta supports "a violent change of government" and is "abusing environmentalism for the election campaign". A day later, protests were also held in
Zrenjanin.
Protests and Roadblocks on 18 December 2021 Protests and Roadblocks on 3 January 2022 Clerical protests "Family walk" organized by Dveri on 15 May Participants in the
Family Walk, organized by the
Dveri movement, demanded the withdrawal from the parliamentary procedure of three, as it was said, unconstitutional laws, including the one on same-sex unions. At the gathering in front of the Assembly of Serbia, organized on the occasion of the International Day of the Family, the leader of Dveri,
Boško Obradović, said that it was necessary to withdraw from the procedure all three unconstitutional and anti-Christian laws. Obradović pointed out that Dveri is proposing a tax reform that should enable tax cuts for those who are married and have children, so that more money remains in the household budget.
Anti-LGBT protest on 18 September A protest of anti-globalists and opponents of covid passes, vaccinations and other measures against coronavirus was held in Belgrade on 18 September. A group of several dozen demonstrators threw eggs at the police cordon in Nemanjina Street. Numerous organizations are protesting - the Anti-Globalists of Serbia, Doctors and Parents for Science and Ethics, the Movement of the Serbian Parliament, the Movement of the Kidnapped Baby - a change in the system. As can be seen in the photos of news agencies, the leader of Dveri, Boško Obradović, joined the gathering on the Square, who supported the protest. The protesters started the protest walk from the Square, and torches were lit behind the Presidency building, on Terazije. From the podium placed on the truck, they said that they were against covid passes, masks, vaccinations, and that they were "disgusted" by the Pride Parade. They set fire to and trampled the rainbow-colored flag, a symbol of the LGBT community. The demonstrators pointed out the flags of Serbia and various movements, some of them carry icons, and they also developed the banner "Unity will be the defeat of the devil". They sang "Oh, Kosovo, Kosovo". At around 7.30 pm, those gathered set off through Terazije, towards the building of the Government of Serbia. A group of demonstrators tried to climb Nemanjina Street, but the police cordon did not allow them to pass. Then they turned and went down
Nemanjina Street to the monument to
Stefan Nemanja, where they spread banners and flags. At one point, the participants in the protest played a round of Užice around the monument. A group of demonstrators threw eggs at a police cordon in Nemanjina Street, near the former General Staff building. Earlier in the evening, the Minister of Police,
Aleksandar Vulin, briefly visited the police cordon, but did not address the media. Police cordons for breaking up demonstrations near the Belgrade woman and in Resavska Street.
Protests against COVID passports About two hundred citizens gathered in front of the
Serbian Parliament the next evening to express their dissatisfaction with the introduction of passports for COVID-19. The part of the street in front of the assembly was closed because the gathered people went out on the street and blocked it, from the House of Trade Unions to the main post office building. At one point he came across an ambulance under rotation. At the beginning, some of those gathered did not want to miss it, but after the discussion, the van passed. At the protest, "March on the Drina" was heard from the loudspeakers, and those gathered shouted "Don't be a sheep". Then they started on Kneza Miloša Street in the direction of the Government of Serbia. Traffic was blocked there as well, and the police were also present. A new protest was held in
Niš with the same number of people and with similar messages. Residents of Niš protested again in the central city square because of the decision of the Republic Crisis Staff. The gathered, about 200 of them, pointed out that the decision to introduce passports "deprived them of basic human rights". "We want the right to choose, freedom of movement and freedom of speech. The number of deaths from coronavirus is false, they are increasing and decreasing according to their discretion", said one of the participants in the protest rally. She said that the obligatory vaccination of children must be stopped urgently. At the end of the protest, the gathered citizens briefly blocked the traffic in the center of Niš, and then dispersed. A new gathering at King Milan Square was announced for the following evening at 8 pm. == Police brutality ==