YUGOSLAVIA: 10,000 OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS DEFY POLICE BAN AND HOLD PROTEST MARCH AFTER FUNERAL OF ACTIVIST WHO DIED ON TUESDAY

Record ID: 566024

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: 10,000 OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS DEFY POLICE BAN AND HOLD PROTEST MARCH AFTER FUNERAL OF ACTIVIST WHO DIED ON TUESDAY
  • Date: 28th December 1996
  • Summary: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA (DECEMBER 28, 1996) (RTV(A) - ACCESS ALL) NIGHT-SHOTS 1. PAN/LV CROWD/ AUDIO WHISTLES (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. SV WOMEN LIGHTING CANDLES 0.20 3. LV/SV MAN ADDRESSING CROWD (2 SHOTS) 0.34 4. GV POLICE LINED UP ACROSS ROAD 0.42 5. SLV PROTESTORS WITH BANNERS 0.47 6. LV PROTESTORS MARCHING 0.55 7. LV POLICE WITH RIOT SHIELDS (2 SHOTS) 1.04 8. TV MORE POLICE ARRIVING 1.17 9. LV/SV/GV POLICE FACING DEMONSTRATORS (6 SHOTS) 1.46 10. LV/GV DEMONSTRATORS ADVANCING ON POLICE LINES (3 SHOTS) 2.12 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 12th January 1997 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA6VXF8O2EQ3VFGF42477EF1D2S
  • Story Text: During Saturday's (December 28) march, demonstrators chanted "Slobo murderer", spurred by a leader of the Zajedno (Together) opposition coalition who accused riot police loyal to President Slobodan Milosevic of causing the death of Predrag Starcevic.

    Starcevic, the first fatality in almost six weeks of street protests against Socialist election fraud, was said to have been trampled to death by a crowd escaping a police charge.

    No attempt was made by reserve police forces to interfere with Saturday's march, held despite sub-zero cold, and the demonstrators dispersed without incident after reaching the city centre.

    Police were tougher with another march by thousands of students who tried to march down a major downtown street after nightfall, swiftly diverting them into a pedestrian lane and trapping them there.

    Protesters then walked in circles as if they were in jail.

    After an hour-long standoff with massed police, the students dispersed. No disturbances were reported.

    The demonstrator's ranks were no doubt thinned by an onset of snow-blown sub-zero temperatures coupled with police pressure.

    Police banned street marches after violence on December 24 when Zajedno battled rival demonstrators organised by the Socialist party (SPS) and later clashed with security forces.

    The unrest followed Milosevic's refusal to accept an SPS defeat by Zajedno in Belgrade and 14 of Serbia's biggest towns in municipal elections on November 17.

    But protesters have taken heart from a fact-finding mission by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe that confirmed their complaints of rigging in municipal elections last month and urged Milosevic to restore opposition victories.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register