Belgrade: Students' noisy demonstrations against Serbian populist leadership

Hundreds of university-led protesters held a noisy rally outside Serbia's state television headquarters on Thursday, despite the country's president's pledged to meet all their demands after he faced one of the most challenging threats to his populist rule.

The demonstration is part of broader protests that erupted after the fall of a concrete shield in Novi Sad last month, killing 15 people, the AP reports.

Blowing up whistles, screaming, and laughing loud, protesters said they were angry that state television RTS is conveying charges by President Allexander Vuciq that students have been paid by the West and elsewhere to hold protests to bring down his government.

Protesters brought in reports allegedly carrying cash in front of RTS in downtown Belgrade. Television has been accused of spreading the pro-government nationalist narrator for years.

Lessons at more than 40 university faculties across Serbia have been suspended for days.

Many in Serbia blame the deadly collapse of rampant corruption in the country that led to poor renovation works at the Novi Sad train station building part of a broader deal with Chinese state companies involved in a series of infrastructure projects in the Balkan country.

The decline of the shield has turned into a driving point for broader discontent with the president's growing autocratic rule, reflecting public requirements for democratic change. Almost every day protests have been held since November 1st in Novi Sad, Belgrade and other cities, which were sometimes turned violent.

Vuciqi announced at a press conference Wednesday evening that documentation concerning the renovation of the railway building in Novi Sad will become public, as students have requested.

Prosecutors have launched investigations and detained 13 people. But a government minister has been released, prompting widespread speculation about the investigation, as ruling populists also control the police and judiciary.

While Vuciqi spoke on Wednesday, hundreds of students also sounded whistles and trumpets outside the presidency building, which could be heard on the live broadcast of the talk.

Students on Thursday said they also want to be arrested by bandits who attacked peaceful protesters.

We've come to return the money”, one of the students told the crowd as they symbolically left improvised sacks of money outside the television building. You can hand them over to the president and tell him that we want a public apology”.