Crowds protest in three Belgrade municipalities

Protesters gathered in Rakovica, Palilu and Cukarica before the assembly sessions started. The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and its allies are in power in all 3 municipalities.

The crowd gathered at the Palilula municipality demanded to be allow to attend the assembly session. A large police presence was deployed. The crowd also stood in silence for the daily tribute to the victims of the Novi Sad Railway Station disaster.

At the Cukarica municipality building, private security guards were deployed for the first time and prevented members of the public from attending the assembly sessions. Reporters said that tensions ran high. An opposition councilors told N1 that the private security guards were demanding ID even from people going in for administrative services.

In Rakovica, the ruling coalition voted not to allow the public to attend the assembly session which met with a loud response from the opposition. Municipal officials said the public was banned from the session for security reasons. A councilor for the Green-Left Front Milos Injac was thrown out of the assembly hall.