Thousands of people have demonstrated in the center of Belgrade against the government of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Their posters say "It's started" and "As long as everyone is not free, no one is free".
It was the third Saturday in a row that demonstrators took to the streets in Belgrade under the slogan "Stop Bloody Shirts". The original occasion was the brutal attack on the leader of the Serbian Left, Borko Stefanovic, in late November in the southern Serbian city of Krusevac. Men in black shirts had beaten him with an iron bar and seriously injured him.
The demonstrators were particularly against the from their point of view tolerated by the government violence against critics. The rallies were called by an alliance of opposition parties. The protests were also directed against the unilaterally positive coverage of public broadcasters for the government and Vucic.
Vucic condemned the attack on Stefanovic. The police arrested suspects. Oppositionists, however, continue to hold the president responsible for the crime. They accuse him of contributing to a climate of violence in the country with his aggressive rhetoric against critics and oppositionists.