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Protesters clash with riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament in Belgrade last night. Darko Vojinovic via PA Images

British citizen among 71 people arrested in Serbia after protesting government response to Covid-19

There have been protests for four consecutive nights in several Serbian cities.

SERBIAN POLICE HAVE said they have arrested 71 people, including a British citizen and a Tunisian citizen, after violence broke out during a protest in Belgrade against the government’s management of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of people demonstrated in several Serbian cities last night for a fourth day in row, with protesters hurling stones at police in front of parliament in the capital.

Some protesters also threw firecrackers and chanted nationalist slogans in Belgrade, according to AFP journalists.

“Among those arrested are many foreign nationals from Bosnia, Montenegro but also from Great Britain and Tunisia,” police chief Vladimir Rebić said at a press conference.

virus-outbreak-serbia Hundreds of demonstrators tried to storm Serbia's parliament on Friday, clashing with police who fired tear gas. Darko Vojinovic Darko Vojinovic

Photographs of the British and Tunisian passports of two men were shown on a screen.

According to local media, mostly tabloids close to power, the Briton is 24 years old, while the Tunisian is 54.

“These are the documents with which they entered Serbia,” said Rebić, who added that he intends to examine the influence of “these foreign factors on the violence of the demonstrations”.

Serbia welcomed them hoping that they would come to have a good time with us, but they came to destroy and attack the police.

virus-outbreak-serbia A protester kneels in front of riot police on the steps of the Serbian parliament. Marko Drobnjakovic Marko Drobnjakovic

Fourteen police officers were injured in yesterday’s clashes, and 130 since the protests began on Tuesday, the police chief said. No figures have been given for the number of injured protesters.

The protesters have vented their frustration with President Aleksandar Vučić, who is seen by many as having facilitated a second wave of the virus by lifting an initial lockdown so that elections could be held on 21 June, which his Serbian Progressive Party largely won.

The first demonstration on Tuesday was triggered after Vučić announced the return of a weekend curfew to combat a second wave of coronavirus infections that has overwhelmed hospitals in Belgrade.

The president later backtracked on his plan, but the protests continued, turning into a general rebuke of his handling of the health crisis.

© – AFP 2020

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    Mute Wishywashy
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    Jul 11th 2020, 3:12 PM

    Why would we give two hoots?

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jul 11th 2020, 3:50 PM

    @Wishywashy: The government is attempting to undermine the cause of the protests by linking them to outside agitators. It’s not true of course.

    The Serb government eased the lockdown before the June 21st election in order to get a big turn out and win votes, after the votes were counted they re-imposed the knockdown after announcing a spike in COVID-19 cases. The protestors upset at this, are a mix of people upset at the bent election and conspiracy minded who think COVID dies not exist or was exaggerated as a political tool to stifle descent.

    The reason why we should care is that there is now a rapidly worsening outbreak of COVID in Serbia, the government capitulated to the protestors demands, ended the lockdown a 2nd time, so Serbia is now faced with a worsening mishandled outbreak they cannot control. That outbreak could force border closures and cause problems/outbreaks elsewhere in Europe.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jul 11th 2020, 3:27 PM

    Mr Bald of the Bald and Bankrupt YouTube channel caught Coronavirus in Serbia and was in hospital for a month and the ICU for a week.

    Here’s his video: https://youtu.be/clscC120ZQM

    He didn’t realise how ill he was and was taken to hospital in taxi by a concerned friend. They found his oxygen levels were in “the low 70s”. He recons the low oxygen levels affected his judgment and that’s why he didn’t realise he was dying.

    Also, Serbia was caught covering up the severity of the outbreak.

    https://balkaninsight.com/2020/06/22/serbia-under-reported-covid-19-deaths-and-infections-data-shows/

    There was an election on June 21, some protestors were upset about the bent election, think the corrupt government eased the lockdown in order to win votes. There’s now a second wave of infections, that’s why the lockdown was re-imposed, or maybe the first never ended, or maybe it’s to stifle protests. One of the leaders of the protest was a 5G conspiracy theorist, but there’s various reasons why people were protesting.

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    Mute Maalouf
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    Jul 11th 2020, 4:00 PM

    @David Jordan: he is brilliant to watch !! Especially his south American travels

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    Mute Ned Gerblansky
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    Jul 11th 2020, 4:09 PM

    @Maalouf: you might want to do a bit of background research on him, you will think twice about watching his videos.

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    Mute Tiktok
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    Jul 11th 2020, 4:32 PM

    @David Jordan: oh a communist sympathizer who worked for MI5 probably still does by the look of his videos. Reserch who you watch

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    Mute Alex Nevin
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    Jul 11th 2020, 5:56 PM

    @Tiktok: Sources please. Have been following him for a good while and this is the first I’ve heard of that

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    Mute Hup Abù
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    Jul 11th 2020, 6:58 PM

    @Alex Nevin: Used enjoys his videos until I found out he’s a d!rty little git

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    Mute Hup Abù
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    Jul 11th 2020, 7:04 PM

    @Hup Abù: eh hem..I quite enjoyed his videos until I learned he’s a d!try little git

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    Mute SC
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    Jul 11th 2020, 8:07 PM

    @Alex Nevin: he used to post under a pseudonym in a sex tourist forum and people have corroborated events he mentions in the pseudonym account with facts known about his life (where he has been, an unfounded rape accusation, ex wife from Belarus, tips for learning Russian). He posted despicable stories and totally denigrated all of the people he pretends to be friends with. https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldAndBaldrDossier/comments/cz1sz4/the_x_files_of_bald_bankrupt_a_brief_summary_and/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body

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    Mute SC
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    Jul 11th 2020, 8:08 PM

    @David Jordan: and that is hilarious because he was a denier until he got it

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    Mute Aaron Jones
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    Jul 11th 2020, 4:11 PM

    Sure or government used the pandemic to form a government nobody voted for!

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    Mute ℝ
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    Jul 11th 2020, 5:20 PM

    @Aaron Jones: you got precisely what you voted for. No overall control….

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    Mute Aaron Jones
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    Jul 11th 2020, 5:31 PM

    @ℝ: yeah I never voted for mehole or Leotard!

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    Mute GrumpyAulFella
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    Jul 11th 2020, 5:58 PM

    @Aaron Jones: 76% didn’t vote for Mary Who either but sure that’s democracy for ye.

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    Mute Aaron Jones
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    Jul 11th 2020, 6:06 PM

    @GrumpyAulFella: I never voted for Mary Lou!

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    Mute Kate Colbert
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    Jul 12th 2020, 7:54 AM

    @GrumpyAulFella: Why can’t people understand how our voting system works!? What you mean to say is 76% didn’t give SF their no1 vote.

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    Mute Kate Colbert
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    Jul 12th 2020, 8:29 AM

    Probably the ringleader and a spy.

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    Mute Staker Wallace
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    Sep 30th 2023, 6:46 AM

    @:

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    Mute Jimmy Carroll
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    Jul 12th 2020, 11:29 AM

    They should protest at the Chinese embassy

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