On July 6th, Čačak police reported the arrest of three protesters suspected of assaulting police officers during a protest in the southwestern Serbian city three days earlier.

According to a statement from Beta news agency, NV (38), VM (21), and U.Đ. (28) were arrested in collaboration with the prosecutor’s office on accusations of assaulting an official while performing their duties near the headquarters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

“As participants in an unregistered gathering, they allegedly insulted and threatened police officers and subsequently assaulted them, resulting in a minor injury to one officer inflicted by NV,” the police statement indicated.

The arrested individuals are set to be detained for up to 48 hours and will be taken to the relevant prosecutor’s office with the charges filed against them.

Meanwhile, about a hundred residents of Raška, in southern Serbia, protested on the evening of July 5 in front of the local police station, demanding the suspension of an officer accused of assaulting a high school graduate, as reported by Beta.

Following a march through the city, protesters gathered outside the police station, voicing their grievances against the officer believed to have harmed a high school student.

A similar protest occurred on the evening of July 5 in Leskovac, southern Serbia, where demonstrators blocked an intersection and called for the fulfillment of the students’ demands.

Since June 28, traffic blockades have been prevalent in Serbia, sparked by student protests in Belgrade. The students are advocating for civil disobedience until their demands are addressed: early elections, the removal of the opposition tent settlement occupying the street and park in front of the Serbian Presidency and Parliament since March, and the release of detained students.

A group of students across Serbia has been consistently blocking faculties for the past eight months and leading nationwide protests, demanding accountability from authorities for the tragic deaths of 16 individuals in the collapse of the Novi Sad Railway Station canopy on November 1.

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