A Thousand Radicals Guard Hague Indictee Šešelj

About 3,000 people gathered at Republic Square in Belgrade, waiting to be addressed by the radical leader and Hague war crimes indictee Vojislav Šešelj, Belgrade media report, citing the Bosnian news agency Patria.

Currently, about 3,000 people are present, according to an estimate by the Belgrade police who are securing the gathering.

Krajina songs are playing over the loudspeakers, and people are carrying flags and banners with Šešelj's image en masse. Folk singer Era Ojdanić also performed.

Occasionally, lit torches can be seen, while someone is also carrying a banner depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin wearing a šajkača. There are many people carrying pictures of Vojislav Šešelj, as well as flags with the image of Draža Mihajlović.

There are many police officers on and around the square, while part of the police force is also along Knez Miloš Street, guarding the presidency building.

The security of today's rally, which Vojislav Šešelj will hold after 12 years, will be ensured by as many as 1,000 members of the SRS.

The rally, as they say in the SRS, has been properly reported to the police, and expectations are that it will be attended by tens of thousands of people from various parts of Serbia. The Ministry of Interior said that the gathering would be secured by a "sufficient number" of police officers, in accordance with the security assessment.

Two speakers will address the party's members and sympathizers - SRS leader Vojislav Šešelj and party vice-president Nemanja Šarović.