Tensions in Užice as security at Vučić rally beats a man

Tensions flared in the western Serbian city of Užice on the evening of August 29, 2026, after security staff at a Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) rally attended by President Aleksandar Vučić beat a man, students and witnesses said. A photo shared by students from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade showed the injured man, and video circulating online captured parts of the confrontation.

Clashes after protesters tried to reach rally site

Citizens and activists had organised a gathering timed for 15:00 as a counter-response to the SNS event scheduled for 18:00. Police barred them from reaching the centre of Užice and the rally venue at Partizanski Square. When some people managed to push past the cordon and move toward the square, they clashed with the private security guarding the rally.

Students who maintain a blockade at the Faculty of Law posted on X a message alongside the photograph: "Today in Užice the rule of law was suspended (for who knows how many times); a mafia-style regime beats its own fellow citizens. It's all for nothing, you only sent the message that this person is the face of victorious Serbia! Students win, the people win!"

President Vučić, speaking earlier about his planned visits to Užice and Novi Sad, said he scheduled rallies in those cities in response to claims that he had been too afraid to visit them. "I lost count of the places they told me I did not dare to visit, and yet I was the only one who went to each of them. Because they said I did not dare to go to Užice and Novi Sad, I have now scheduled large public rallies precisely in those two cities," he told reporters.

Branko Nikolić, from the organisation "Don't Breathe Deeply," said a group of citizens were attacked on Partizanski Square after two plainclothes police officers approached to check identity cards. He told reporters that while the IDs were being checked, a group of some 20 to 30 men in black T‑shirts approached and began striking the gathered people; two were injured and one person was arrested and is currently in hospital.

"While they were checking our identity cards, a group of 20 to 30 big men in black T‑shirts approached and began hitting us. Chaos and a brawl broke out, and uniformed police did not appear for a long time," Nikolić said.

There was no immediate official comment from state authorities about the incident. The circumstances of the attack and the role of security staff and plainclothes officers are being contested by witnesses and activists.

Photo: skrinshot od objava na video od strana na Praven fakultet vo