The event, which took place on Saturday without incident, also provided support for the university students who are spearheading nationwide demands for immediate elections, a stance Vucic continues to refute.
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The Pride march organizers cited police brutality and the arrest of protesters as examples of “we cannot close our eyes” at what is happening in their country.
They continued, noting that this year’s Pride march was itself a protest, that “Pride won’t take part in bringing about a sense of normalcy.”
Participants held banners, including one that read “Gays against police state” at the gathering in the city’s center!
In Novi Sad, the student-led student protest movement started in November when 16 people died as a result of a roof collapse at a train station.
Demonstrators have attributed the tragedy to corrupt practices, with their initial demands for a fair investigation eventually turning into demands for new elections.
National demonstrations started off peacefully for the first nine months, but violent clashes started to break out in mid-August. Difficulty civilians and police officers have been injured in the country since then.
In Novi Sad, thousands of protesters marched toward the city’s university campus late on Friday for speeches before taking to the streets.
Students accused police of starting “brutal attacks on their own citizens” by using tear gas and stun grenades to disrupt the march.
Ivica Dacic, the interior minister, reported to the state-run RTS on Saturday that 42 of the demonstrators had been detained and that 13 police officers had been hurt in a “massive and brutal attack.”
Vucic claimed that protesters were attempting to “threaten the stability and security of Serbia” and “occupy the university premises in Novi Sad” when they spoke about the incident on Friday.
Source: Aljazeera
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