Thirty-seven people were detained during protests in Serbia, with protesters smashing three offices of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SPS) in Novi Sad, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said.
SPS members were not injured.
He said at least 42 police officers were injured during the protests, some of them seriously.
According to Radio Liberty’s Balkan service, tear gas was used several times in Belgrade, where protests took place in several places.
The interior minister said the 14 August protests were “one of the most violent attacks on the police in recent years”.
“The police responded and the police intervened by using chemicals where necessary to repel the attack on themselves,” Dacic said.
Incidents were also reported at a protest in New Belgrade, where tear gas was also used against citizens.
Protests were organised in front of the offices of the Serbian Progressive Party in several Serbian cities, leading to tensions and police intervention.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic condemned the damage to Serbian Progressive Party offices in Novi Sad and said that all those who perpetrated the violence would be brought to justice.
Massive student protests have been taking place in Serbia since November 2024. Demonstrators have been blocking universities across the country and demanding early elections for Serbia’s president.
The collapse of the cement canopy of the Novi Sad railway station on 1 November last year, which killed 16 people, sparked one of the largest protest movements in the country in recent times.
Protesters claimed the tragedy was due to corruption and incompetence of officials, and the demonstrations quickly turned into a more generalised anger against Vucic, whose five-year term expires in 2027. He was prime minister from 2014-17.
After the initial protests, prosecutors announced the arrest of about a dozen officials linked to the railway incident, including former Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesic and former railway infrastructure director Jelena Tanaskovic.
Vucic’s opponents accuse him and his government allies of links to organised crime, violence against political rivals, and suppression of media freedom and freedom of speech.