Thousands set up street blockades in Serbia after crackdown on protesters

President Aleksandar Vucic had earlier vowed many more protesters would be arrested, as 38 remain in custody.

Thousands of people have set up street blockades in Serbia, where tensions are boiling over after the arrest of antigovernment protesters who clashed with police at a massive night-time rally a day earlier that demanded early elections, marking a crescendo of months-long public dissent.

Protesters put up metal fences and garbage containers at various locations in the capital Belgrade late on Sunday into early Monday, also blocking a key bridge over the Sava River. Protesters in the northern city of Novi Sad pelted the offices of the ruling populist Serbian Progressive Party with eggs.

Serbian media said similar protest blockades were organised in smaller cities across the country.

Protesters are demanding that authorities release dozens of university students and others at the demonstration who were jailed for allegedly attacking the police or purportedly plotting to overthrow the government at Saturday’s student-led protest in Belgrade.

At a news conference earlier on Sunday, Serbia’s embattled populist leader Aleksandar Vucic accused the organisers of the protest of inciting violence and attacks on police.