Radar weekly staff writer Vuk Cvijic told N1 that he saw police in riot gear attack a group of students standing on the steps in front of Belgrade University Law School on the night of Wednesday-Thursday.
Cvijic was shoved and hit with a shield by the police in riot gear even though he identified himself as a journalist.
According to Cvijic, the students withdrew from the street which they were blocking up to the steps when the police came up in their vehicles and started attacking them. “They pulled students away from the law school, cuffed them and beat them. They also hit a former Supreme Court judge and professors,” he said.
Earlier, Students in Blockade said that the police tried to break into the law school which they see as a violation of the autonomy of the university. Under Serbian law, universities and their schools enjoy autonomy and the police can only enter them if deans or the rector calls them to do so.
The Internal Affairs Ministry (MUP) said on Thursday morning that the police took action against people who blocked the road with garbage containers, fencing, benches and other things. It said that 23 people were arrested. “During the action, at one point the police intended to arrest people on the plateau in front of the Law School and on its steps but did not at any time enter the law school, respecting the autonomy of the university,” the press release said adding that 23 people were arrested.
Source: N1
