WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Several thousand citizens from different parts of Serbia gathered in Užice on Sunday, July 13, at a rally demanding the release of nine citizens arrested during several protests in this city in western Serbia.
Among those detained were professors, students, lawyers and opposition councilors.
After a rally in the city center and a protest march, the demonstrators blocked the highway leading to Zlatibor.
The people gathered in the city center were addressed, among others, by the rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, who said that he was joining "the voice against violence, brutality, injustice, the collapse of institutions".
"Let us persevere in what the students have started in the fight for institutions that serve citizens, a society in which we live with dignity, for each of us", said Đokić.
Lawyer Vladimir Terzić also gave a speech, stating that the citizens arrested at the protest did not commit any crime and that they should be released from detention.
"They were arrested because they stood tall and said what this government does not like to hear - enough is enough," he said.
A letter from former Serbian national football player Nemanja Vidić, a native of Užice, was read at the protest.
"The law must be the same for everyone, without exception. Generations are coming after us who will not accept less, generations who will be able to do better, who deserve better. It is up to us to support them, to leave them the country we dream of. We are fighting for our children and their future, for our Serbia," said Vidić.
The protest, as announced by the organizers, should last nine hours - for the nine detained Užice residents.
The arrested, who participated in the blockade of the highway on July 6, were ordered to be detained for up to 30 days, by a decision of the Basic Court in Užice. They are suspected of attacking an official during the blockade of the main road.
A large police force, in riot gear, intervened as citizens sat on the main road in Užice.
The demonstrators accused the police of excessive force and brutality during the blockade, and protests in the city continued in the following days.
The protesters are also demanding the dismissal of the mayor, the head of the Užice Police Department, and the deputy commander of the Užice Police Intervention Unit.
The protest blockades in cities across Serbia began after students called for "civil disobedience" after the protests in Belgrade on June 28.
They are demanding the calling of early elections, the removal of a camp from the city center where people opposing the blockades have been staying for months, and the release of students who were detained during and after the June 28 demonstrations.
