Tonight in Belgrade, it was a scene straight out of a nightmare: riot police striking, tear gas flying, and students and journalists falling like dominoes! Darko Pavlović, a cameraman for the Fonet news agency, was hit several times in the back while trying to capture the brutal police crackdown on a student protest. The chaos unfolded around 9:30 PM at the intersection near London, where a riot police cordon blocked the passage towards Terazije. Despite clearly showing his press ID, Pavlović was met with a cloud of tear gas in his eyes and several blows to his back. To make matters worse, the police ignored reports of attacks on journalists, while protesters chanted against Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Two police cordons stopped columns of demonstrators trying to leave Slavija Square, with officers equipped with shields, helmets, and batons. This all happened amid a massive student protest that gathered hundreds of citizens, with tensions running sky-high. Is this democracy or full-blown repression? Got thoughts? Drop a comment — maybe your words can clear the tear gas haze!
