Serbia's students demand police and judiciary chiefs resign

Belgrade — Serbia's student movement on Thursday demanded the resignations of top officials in the police, intelligence agencies and the judiciary, days after its historic election victory over the party of Aleksandar Vučić. The demands, made at a news conference in Belgrade, mark the first concrete test of what the incoming government intends to change — and how fast.

The Students' List swept the parliamentary election on 25 October against Mr Vučić's right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, which has held power since 2012, The Hindu reported. The outgoing authorities remain in control, however, as the formal transition is expected to take several weeks.

Speaking in a central Belgrade park once sealed off and occupied by Mr Vučić's loyalists, student Filip Ubovic said changes were starting now, that institutions belonged to the citizens and that the law applied to everyone. The movement, he said, was not seeking revenge but adherence to the law, professionalism and responsibility.

The students say police and intelligence chiefs served Mr Vučić's party during two years of street protests — set off when a collapsed canopy at a renovated train station in the north killed 16 people — citing excessive force, illegal surveillance and pressure on opponents. They also want judicial changes and urgent investigations into top-level corruption cases they say may have been sidelined, plus a review of all public spending contracts. Public servants were asked to stop outgoing officials destroying documents.

Mr Vučić, for his part, accused the winners of "revolutionary terror" after groups stormed the Informer TV station that had branded students traitors before the vote. There was no immediate response from the police commanders, judges and prosecutors asked to step down, though the general manager of state broadcaster RTS, Manja Grcic, has resigned and its Novi Sad branch apologised for selective reporting.

Serbia's EU membership bid stalled under Mr Vučić over democratic backsliding and close ties to Russia; EU officials have offered help to the new authorities on democracy and the rule of law. First, though, the students want election authorities to certify the final results without delay. A rerun at some 50 polling stations is set for 1 November, after which a new parliament and government can be formed — the point at which Thursday's demands turn from statements into decisions.