Major student protests in Belgrade: All you need to know

Massive student protests will be held today in Belgrade, while Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, claims their goal is to promote civil war and take power by force.

Students, who have been protesting since late last year, began protests after the fall of the Novi Sad Rail Station, where 15 people died. Since then, they have gathered in large numbers in various cities of Serbia, especially Belgrade, Novi Sad and Kraguyevc.

For today, the biggest protests so far have been warned in Belgrade, where students from all over Serbia are expected to attend. Student columns from western, central and southern Serbia are heading towards the capital on foot and bicycles. They were received last night in Terazije, downtown Belgrade, while on the way they received support from citizens of the areas they passed. All will gather today at noon at different Belgrade points and at 4: 00 p.m., march towards Serbia's Parliament.

Belgrade students, who will be the hosts of the protest, have offered free shelter to their colleagues from other cities. For days, they have shared offers for homes, rooms and apartments on social networks. On the other hand, different citizens are committed to helping with cooking and distributing food.

Meanwhile, ahead of Serbia's presidency at the Pionir Park have been collected “students who want to learn”. They have submitted five requests, including deadlines for return to university audiences. They have sometimes accused “students in the blockade” of physical attacks and insults. On their side is President Vuciq, who has stated that these students are facing physical and verbal violence but are not responding.

“They are guilty only because they want to learn”, Vuciq said several times, writes Nova.rs.

On Thursday evening, he has received them to the Presidency and has begged them to return home before today's protests to avoid attacks on them. However, they have declared they will stay in the Pionir Park.

Vuciq claims that today's protesters will try to promote civil war and take power by force. He has even declared that he will be in Presidencys during the protests and that “if he wants to take power by force, he will have to kill him”.

That civil war is under way, the Speaker of the Parliament, Anna Brnabiq, who is referring to several videos where, according to her, the representatives of political parties, nongovernmental organisations and “that are behind student Plenums” are seen. It has confirmed that these persons have prepared for days a “state, violence and the murder of Aleksandar Vuciqi”. Brnabiq has called for competent organs to react urgently.

Vuciq, for his part, has stated Thursday that participants in student protests are paid, writes Telegrafi, broadcasts Periscope.

I know how this money is collected and how it is absorbed. Any activity organised at these regional centers is financed by transportation, food. All are paid. I ask you, who finances these? Do you really think our services don't work, and we don't know how much they pay, especially when they're overblown by themselves?

Since he has declared that the opposition will organise violence during the protests in Belgrade, they have responded by saying that for any act of violence, he will be exclusively responsible.

“It (Vucciq) is creating a parallel reality and is now trying to provoke unrest and incidents, as it did with its gangs during the protests in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Citizens of Serbia do not have masked bandits. He is the one who is trying in every way to provoke incidents. Speaking of contradiction, he is calling for violence”, Serbia's People's Movement Chairman Miroslav Aleksic has said.

The opposition has stressed that they are not protest organisers, but students, and have remembered that so far many protests have been held without a single case of violence.

Vuciq has based claims on violence even on recent scenes in Serbia's Parliament, where flares and noisy explosive devices have been used, leaving some MPs injured.

A day before today's protests, dozens of tractors from different regions of the country are placed before the presidency of Serbia, without identification plates.

Security experts estimate that parked tractors are a means of pressure and aim to create fears for radicalisation of protests, so that the number of street participants is smaller.

Since the beginning of the blockades at Serbia's universities, students have submitted several requests. They have requested the publication of full documentation on reconstruction of the Iron Station to determine responsibility for the accident.

The second request has been to drop charges against students and young people arrested during the protests following the collapse of the cover-up at Novi Sad's Iron Station.

The third requirement is to file criminal indictments against those who have attacked students and professors and their prosecution.