Police and Gendarmerie Forces Beat Citizens in Front of Faculty, Student Arrested

(Patria) - Last night, a fierce clash occurred in front of the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad between police and gendarmerie forces and gathered citizens and students who have been blocking the faculty for days.

According to reports from the scene, cordons in full riot gear, consisting of several hundred police officers and gendarmes, pushed the citizens back from the entrance of the faculty building to a nearby parking lot, about fifty meters away. During the intervention, members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs beat demonstrators, threw them to the ground, and sprayed pepper spray in their eyes.

The conflict began shortly after 10 PM, when the ultimatum set by the students blocking the faculty to Dean Milivoje Alanović to withdraw the police from the campus and allow them free entry into the building expired. Instead, additional gendarmerie units were dispatched.

"Lower your shields!", "Remove the police!" – chanted the gathered students, professors, and citizens, including war veterans. Videos and photographs show that some demonstrators were wearing helmets, gas masks, and antivirus masks, while police forces repeatedly used pyrotechnics. It is still unclear who exactly fired the pyrotechnics.

Dean Alanović Targeted by Criticism

In a statement on social media, the students said that Dean Milivoje Alanović himself is responsible for the violence against them.

"Sound cannons and tear gas against students and your colleagues. Milivoje Alanović, is this your dialogue? Do you have any dignity?", they stated.

The academic network Slobodan univerzitet from Novi Sad demanded that Dean Alanović immediately resign due to the violation of university autonomy.

"The police forces present on campus are absolutely disproportionate to any imagined fear for safety that Alanović speaks of. The prolonged presence of Ministry of Internal Affairs members in the faculty building is not based on security assessments, but on the authorities' desire to establish such conduct as a model for dealing with students," their statement read.

Student Arrested

Students also announced that one of their colleagues was arrested on a bus on Wednesday evening.

"According to the police, they are taking him to the King Peter Police Administration. We will report on further steps as soon as we find out where and why he was arrested," they announced on Instagram.

The blockade of the Faculty of Philosophy has been ongoing for days, with students and professors warning that university autonomy is threatened, while the police cordon continues to prevent entry into the building.