Protestors move away from a cloud of tear gas during an anti-government protest in Belgrade, Serbia, on Saturday. Photo by Andrej Cukic/EPA
Aug. 17 (UPI) — Anti-corruption protesters in Serbia set fire to the Valjevo offices of the country’s ruling political party, city leaders said, amid clashes sparked by the deadly collapse of a rail station in November.
Saturday was the eighth night of unrest in the country, this time mostly centered in the western Serbian city, Balkan Insight reported Sunday. Protests also took place in the capital of Belgrade.
Demonstrations began peacefully in Valjevo on Saturday night before protesters broke windows and set fire to the facilities of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the BBC reported. President Aleksandar Vučić was a founding member of the SNS.
Balkan Insight reported that protesters also broke windows at Valjevo City Hall, the local court building and the prosecutor’s offices. Police allegedly used stun grenades and tear gas on the Valjevo protesters and used violence against those in Belgrade and Novi Sad, the BBC reported. The interior ministry denied the allegations.
Ivan Manic, an opposition leader in the Valjevo city assembly, told N1 he’d never seen the anti-corruption protests escalate to this level.
“The past few days have been the most dramatic in our history,” he said in a translation provided by Balkan Insight. “Nothing like this has ever been seen on our streets. The direct responsibility lies with the mayor, the city administration, the ruling SNS, as well as the police department.”
The protests were were originally organized by students after a railway station collapse in Novi Sad in November killed 16 people. Protesters blame the tragedy on government corruption and infrastructure negligence.
Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, also a member of the SNS Party, resigned in January after members of his party allegedly attacked student protesters who were spray-painting anti-government slogans outside the party’s Novi Sad offices.