BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Serbian police have clashed with a huge crowd of anti-government protesters demanding an early election and end to President Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year rule<\/a> in the capital Belgrade.<\/p>\n A sea of around 140,000 protesters rallied in the city, the largest turnout in recent months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government. “We want elections!” the crowd chanted.<\/p>\n Dozens have been arrested, with riot police seen firing tear gas and stun grenades.<\/p>\n President Vucic accused protesters calling for an election of being part of a foreign plot trying to usurp his country. “They wanted to topple Serbia, and they have failed,” he wrote on his Instagram page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Friday, five people were detained, accused of plotting to overthrow the government, according to a statement from Serbia’s Higher Court in Belgrade.<\/p>\n Following the clashes, the police minister strongly condemned violence by protesters and said those responsible would be arrested.<\/p>\n Months of protests<\/a> across the country – including university shutdowns – have rattled Mr Vucic, whose second term ends in 2027 when there are also parliamentary elections scheduled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sladjana Lojanovic, 37, a farmer from the town of Sid in the north, said on Saturday she came to support students.<\/p>\n “The institutions have been usurped and… there is a lot of corruption. Elections are the solution, but I don’t think he (Vucic) will want to go peacefully,” she told Reuters.<\/p>\n The president has previously refused snap elections. His Progressive Party-led coalition holds 156 of 250 parliamentary seats.<\/p>\n Mr Vucic’s opponents accuse him and his allies of ties to organised crime, corruption, violence against rivals and curbing media freedoms, which they deny.<\/p>\n He has maintained close ties to Russia, and Serbia – a candidate for EU membership – has not joined the Western sanctions regime imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Protests by students, opposition, teachers, workers and farmers began last December after 16 people died on 1 November in the collapse of Novi Sad railway station’s roof<\/a>. Protesters blame corruption for the disaster.<\/p>\n![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/7e86\/live\/0bfb7740-547d-11f0-b4be-8f7caf53b80c.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250616-143050-043f96f72f-web-2.23.1-5\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/867c\/live\/b9bddbe0-5480-11f0-8485-7bd50fa63665.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n