April 30, 2025
The scheduling of a new election contest for members of the REM Council fulfilled the only demand of the students who had spent two weeks blocking the buildings of Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) and thus preventing employees from entering.
They thus lifted the blockade on the same day that the election contest was announced.
Police had initially responded to the blockade by attempting to enable RTS workers to enter the building by force, but that tactic was quickly abandoned.
The broadcasting of the main news bulletins was moved to other locations, while some parts of the programme were omitted.
The authorities hadn’t wanted to schedule a new REM Council election contest for two weeks, despite the fact that this would have led to the immediate lifting of the blockade.
Government representatives accused students of violence on a daily basis over the two weeks of the blockade. According to the assessment of Serbian President Aleksandar, the “blockaders used brutal violence” in an attempt to collapse the state and its foundations.
The students stated that the basic human rights of RTS workers had indeed been violated, but not because of the student blockade – rather because of the decades-long depriving of the fundamental right to dignified work and the censorship to which they’ve been subjected.
RTS filed criminal charges over the blockade of buildings, demanding international institutions respond immediately.
Simultaneously, a section of RTS employees supported the student blockade and sought the determining of accountability for those responsible for insulting students during broadcasts.
