Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Sunday there will be “no pardons” for anti-government activists who engage in violence, after authorities arrested dozens of demonstrators when fighting broke out for the first time in months of protests.
“You cannot defeat Serbia with violence, Serbia has not stopped, nor will it stop,” the president told a press conference. He promised more arrests after 77 people were detained on Saturday night, the largest number since protests began eight months ago.
Vučić’s heavy-handed rule has been shaken by the demonstrations, which began when a railway station roof collapsed in the city of Novi Sad last autumn, killing 16 people. The protests were started by students who blamed the tragedy on government corruption, but have since expanded to involve a cross-section of society.