Students warn of possible staged incidents targeting 'Informer' in Belgrade

Students who led the blockade and ran on the Student List say they have information that a group may try to stage incidents in Belgrade tonight, with the tabloid Informer reportedly singled out as the target.

Students warn against manipulated unrest

In a post on their social networks the students wrote: "We have reasons to believe that a certain group tonight plans to provoke incidents in Belgrade. The newsroom of 'Informer' will be the alleged target of this staged attack, and there will be an attempt to shift the blame onto the students. We know who benefits from portraying the students as violent and we want to emphasize that they will not succeed."

The warning follows a series of confrontations earlier this week, after the Student List achieved a victory in Serbia's early parliamentary elections. On Monday a group of demonstrators entered the offices of the pro‑SNS tabloid Informer, interrupted a live broadcast and demanded that owner and editor Dragan Vučićević come out and apologise for the paper's past coverage — including its reporting on student protests — and that he be arrested for allegedly serving former president Aleksandar Vučić.

After the Informer incident, students and Student List leader Ilija Srdanović publicly condemned raids on media outlets and urged citizens not to resort to any form of violence.

The blockade students now call on Belgrade residents and observers to treat reports about any possible staged disturbances critically and not to fall for provocations. In previous demonstrations some protesters also threw eggs at TV Pink, an episode that further raised tensions.

Photo: EPA/ANDREJ CUKIC