Overview

• Officers in riot gear cleared street blockades late Wednesday in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Novi Pazar.
• A total of 79 demonstrators—ranging from university students to teachers and farmers—were detained for demanding a snap vote to end President Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year tenure.
• Four students were hospitalized with injuries and four police officers sustained wounds during the operations.
• President Aleksandar Vucic has refused to schedule early elections and branded the protests as terror aimed at destabilizing the state.
• International bodies have urged restraint and called for investigations into reports of violence and arbitrary detentions.