Student protest and SNS counter rally with hoods

The "National Assembly" of Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian Progressive Party was announced as a spectacle that would last as long as three days. Trg Kralja Milana, the main square of Niš, was already occupied on May 16, when the installation of the stage, video-beam and sound system began, without the permission of the municipality of Medijana, on whose territory the square is located. The very next day, when the meeting was supposed to officially begin, the city center - from the Basic Court to Konj - resembled a fair.

There were stalls on both sides of the main street. At some, free burgers were handed out, at others the traditional Belmuž specialty, and SNS supporters and other citizens could sign a consent to join the Movement for the People and the State.

People arrived from different parts of Serbia, from Kula to Bor. Only from the direction of Pirot towards the city center did a large number of off-line and organized buses pass. In addition to Nis Express and private carriers such as Autokodex, Bortravel, Mitić Travel, a van from the Ministry of Rural Care was also spotted.

Most of them "parked" in the middle of Voždova Street, not far from the main square, so the other "ordinary" road users had to find alternative exits to their destinations. However, on March 1, during the big student protest in Niš, people came with their own transport and did not have the luxury of parking in the middle of one of the main streets. Again, despite this, there were significantly more of them than SNS loyalists on May 17, as shown by the data of the Archives of Public Meetings.

WHEN SANDWICHES TURN INTO PJS

An hour before the official opening of "the biggest gathering in the modern history of Niš", the bar singer Aca Lukas sang. While he was singing the misogynistic lyrics "Do you love me when I'm a brute", Serbian flags were flying, people were pushing to get as close to the stage as possible, some were resting their legs on chairs. The smell of onions prevailed.

Of course, in addition to the citizens of Serbia who came specifically to support the parliament that day, people, mostly young men, dressed in black, some with hoods covering their faces, could also be seen on the streets. As the square itself was impassable due to constructions and people, the "Vremena" reporter went to the Niš fortress in order to gain a better insight into how many people there are. However, the "guys in black" were also there, behind a fence. When the police, who were passing by at that moment, were asked if it was possible to pass and reach the top of the Fortress, the answer was clear - it was not possible. They also said that the fortress was not "occupied". "That's how we are deployed," said the policewoman, while she did not want to answer the question of whether they had permission for that. We were also denied an answer to the question of how certain young men got the right to freely walk around the Fortress, while the others did not have that right that day.

Precisely at 18 pm, the presenters of the program announced the speakers, among whom the mayor of Niš, Dragoslav Pavlović, spoke first. He announced the construction of a new maternity hospital in Nis, spoke about the "great development" of this city, about its ever-increasing construction, as well as about the alleged decrease in the number of unemployed.

"We managed to reduce the number of unemployed by 20.000, and increase the number of employed by 30.000", Pavlović said in his speech, despite the fact that, due to the closure of the Benetton factory, around 1000 people lost their jobs in February, and JGP conductors were also fired due to the introduction of card readers in city buses. After him, pensioner Dragana Krstić took to the stage and used her five minutes to criticize the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš, which was the first in this city to go into a blockade. She specifically referred to the dean Natalija Jovanović, whom she accused of persecuting other fellow professors to join the blockades. A student from the Faculty of Medicine in Nis spoke and said that her city (Nis) had gone through great violence, which she could not keep silent about.

A little later, to the delight of those gathered, the President of Serbia and member of the SNS, Aleksandar Vučić, spoke (see text on page 18).

At the same time, but on another square, only a five-minute walk from there, a protest of Nis students was held, where a large number of citizens gathered. They carried banners like "Hulja se lujja", banged pots, blew their whistles, while children were playing in the park on the square. There were speeches by students, and among them was Mateja Nikolić, who was detained that same evening, in which, according to Vučić, the "colored revolution" ended. He greeted the runners from Niš who were going to Brussels - Aleksa Radonjić, Maja Strunić and Aleksandar Stamenović. 16 minutes of silence followed, and soon after the cleaning of the square began. While the site of the student protest was being cleaned personally by students and citizens, on Trg Kralja Milana, where the SNS rally was held, utility workers quickly cleaned up what was left after the rally. These were empty water bottles, bags, cigarette butts, bags... Since the stage was soon dismantled, and the buses with the participants of the meeting headed to their cities, Vučić's "three-day" assembly ended after only two hours.

A student of the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, Nišlija Đorđe Nikolić, was at the student protest on May 17 and for "Vreme" he shared his impression that Niš was divided into two parts that day - "the students gathered in front of the Faculty of Law, that is the group that does not step on the grass, they want changes, elections, and the other group in the square in the center of the city, where Serbia is located, to which Aca Lukas sings, where they eat burgers and pollute the streets by walking. That does not say much about the people who are gathered there, but about what the one who gathered them thinks of them. He brought them that Acu Lucas, he is telling them that they don't deserve more than that."

People's deputy of the National Movement of Serbia, Niš politician Đorđe Stanković, believes that there were many more people from Niš at King Aleksandar Square, where the student protest was held, than at the "National Assembly".

"I think that this is the most important information for Vučić and that all the promises he made to the people on Trg Kralja Milana mean nothing, given that Nišli was not there. He showed that he is an absolute coward, which is what the citizens told him from Trg Kralja Aleksandra," Stanković told "Vreme".

photo: violeta milicevic / fonet

STUDENTS AND JOURNALISTS ARE TARGETED AGAIN

Stanković stated that he was glad that the gatherings passed without major incidents, but shortly afterwards the media reported that two female journalists were attacked that day during the gathering.

Južnih vesti journalist Tamara Radovanović was attacked while reporting, shortly after the end of the SNS rally. She was attacked by an unknown man, who the media reports is from Novi Sad, and tried to steal her phone. Instead of him, the police took her to the other side of the street.

Journalist Ivana Marković from Nova S television was also attacked, who was in Obrenovićeva Street during the assembly and found herself with a cameraman targeted by several men around 18 p.m.

"Around 18 p.m., we were in Obrenovićeva Street and approached the former department store to take a few shots, outside the fence. The flag started to be raised with the anthem. The man in front of me ordered us to leave, he didn't want to introduce himself, I refused. Then, while the anthem was being played in the center, four men attacked us, two of them with a megaphone shouted that we were Ustashas, ​​to return to Zagreb," says Ivana Marković, reports Media i reform center Nis.

Niš students also shared with journalists and media editorial offices the case of an attack on a student during the meeting of the Serbian Progressive Party. According to them, the student Ognjen Ranđelović and his friend were physically and verbally attacked by SNS security guards when, due to the needs of the author's film, he passed by the tent in the "Sedmi Juli" park and filmed the crowd without any provocation. The warden started shouting at them, and when they tried to get away, the warden caught up with them and tried to steal his phone. The police registered the student Ognjen Ranđelović at the City Hall, while the security guard threatened to find him and "see him". "We believe that at the meeting yesterday (May 17), the rights of all those who stand for ideals contrary to the party that organized the same meeting were threatened. It is not only morale but also the safety of all who were not part of this meeting," said the Niš students in the blockade.

Vučić tried to use fair music and platitudes at the assembly to overcome the noise of the Sherpas, criticism and rebellion, but he showed that he could not prevent journalists from doing their work, students from gathering and citizens from walking freely in the occupied city without using force. The impression left behind him is that Vučiće left Niš faster than he arrived there.