Protesters storm Serbian pro-Vucic TV station after his loss at polls

Some protesters shouted, “This is how it is in free Serbia!” and “Where is Vucic now?” Others called for Vucicevic’s arrest.On his personal Instagram account, Vucic, dressed in a jumper displaying the crossed-out word “sorry”, called the incident an attack on free speech and the freedom of journalism.Serbia’s Student List, born out of a student-led anticorruption protest movement, defeated Vucic’s alliance in a historic election on Sunday, bringing to an….

Vucic, who became prime minister in 2014 and president in 2017, previously served as information minister under Slobodan Milosevic and maintained tight control over the media during his rule.Celebrations erupted across Serbia, with fireworks lighting the sky almost immediately after Vucic made an announcement conceding defeat.“It means freedom from a dictatorship that has lasted for 12 years, that I cannot remember a time before,” voter Jana Vasic told Al Jazeera.The….

The leading candidate on its election list, cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic, called for calm.“We ask of you to stay calm and dignified until the end of the electoral process, just like you have been until now,” he said in a video posted on his Instagram account. “Don’t resort to any form of violence.

Your Student List and your student movement urge you on this.”The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia said in a ‌statement ⁠that it would submit an application on Tuesday to have Informer TV’s broadcasting licence revoked, citing systematic violations of law and programme obligations.Meanwhile, Informer’s Vucicevic released a statement saying, “On the very first day of [Student List] power, they want to ban the media.

They have said everything about themselves, and nothing about us.”In a separate development, a group of people also gathered outside the private pro-Vucic Pink TV station in Belgrade on Monday evening, which was cordoned off by police.Earlier, public ⁠broadcaster RTV in the Vojvodina region began its evening news bulletin by apologising to viewers for failing to fulfil its role, citing uncritical, one-sided reporting.Serbia was ranked 104th out of 180 countries….

The Student List was portrayed negatively more than 80 percent of the time it was discussed, Crta added.

President Vucic called the incident an attack on free speech and the freedom of journalism.