A day before a large anti-government rally in Novi Sad, Serbian police arrested a local opposition councillor in the city – and the authorities also cancelled train services.
Misa Baculov. Photo: N1
Serbian police on Friday arrested a local opposition councillor in Novi Sad, Misa Baculov, one day before a major commemorative protest marking the first anniversary of the railway station disaster in the city that cost 16 lives.
An Interior Ministry video of Baculov’s arrest, published by Serbian media, showed riot police intercepting Baculov’s vehicle, ordering him to unlock the vehicle, pulling him out, throwing him to the ground and handcuffing him. Baculov didn’t resist.
Serbia’s public broadcaster, RTS, reported that another person, named only as D.C., was also arrested.
The pro-government tabloid, Informer, said Baculov was arrested because he had planned to poison himself and then blame President Aleksandar Vucic for it. Informer has broadcast a programme claiming protesters are planning to unleash “chaos and civil war” at the commemorative even on Saturday.
The Interior Ministry has not published an official statement about the arrest yet.
Arrests and tabloid claims that anti-government protesters were preparing a coup d’état, civil war or chaos often preceded previous protests organised across the country over the last year.
Serbian Railways meanwhile announced on Friday that it had suspended all railway traffic after it received an anonymous bomb threat saying that “explosive devices were placed on all trains and railways”.
Trains were also cancelled a day before big protests held in Belgrade in March and June.
The Novi Sad disaster on November 1, 2024, which many blamed on official corruption and negligence, sparked a huge wave of protests that has rocked the Serbian government.