December 2, 2024
Disgruntled over seeing reports of protests organised by the opposition at the start of the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) primetime news bulletin in which he appeared as a guest, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić harshly insulted the public information service broadcast.
People are taking to the streets across Serbia in protest following the tragedy that struck Novi Sad and resulted in 15 deaths at the city’s main train station. Both citizens and the opposition claim that the tragedy occurred due to corruption and expect the prosecution service to arrest those considered responsible.
Vučić accused the public service broadcaster of pressuring the prosecution service into investigating this accident, after which he accused RTS, without citing any evidence, of conducting a witch-hunt against the government, of deceiving the public, of being “more rotten” than television stations N1 and Nova S. He dubbed the owner of these two independent television stations, who lives in Switzerland and has works across Europe, of being a “criminal of the white world”.
The Serbian President called those protesting the demolition of a bridge in Belgrade “lunatics”, while branding the university professors who criticise him “blackmailers”.
He issued serious slurs against his political opponents, whom he dubbed drug addicts, thieves and lunatics. The RTS journalist conducting the interview with him didn’t respond to these serious accusations.
Attempts to prevent the protests taking place nationwide across Serbia have been organised by supporters of the government, among them criminals and football supporters’ groups known for violence. Several incidents have also seen journalists of independent media outlets attacked physically.
