Serbian police remove street blockades in Belgrade and make new arrests as tensions persist
Thousands of demonstrators placed metal fences and garbage containers at various locations in Belgrade and elsewhere throughout the country Sunday evening, including a key bridge over the Sava River in the capital. Protesters say they plan to return Monday.
Police said in a statement that a number of people have been detained without specifying how many. Video posted on social media showed police vehicles driving at high speed through a blockade in one Belgrade street and people fleeing in panic.
The blockades are part of persistent dissent against the government of populist President Aleksandar Vucic that started after a train station canopy crashed in the country's north, killing 16 people.
Protesters have demanded justice for the victims of the canopy collapse in Novi Sad on Nov. 1, which many in Serbia blame on corruption-fueled negligence in state infrastructure projects.
Tens of thousands of people gathered Saturday at a student-led protest in Belgrade to call for the snap vote they hope will oust Vucic's right-wing government. Groups of protesters clashed with police after the official part of the rally ended. Dozens were later detained.
Vucic has refused to call the election, which is scheduled to be held in 2027. University students and professors are a key force behind nearly eight months of almost daily protests and Vucic has accused them of 'terror' and attempts to destroy the country.
Nearly 50 officers and 22 protesters were injured in clashes late Saturday. Riot police used batons, pepper spray and shields to charge at demonstrators who threw rocks and other objects at police cordons. Nearly 40 people face criminal charges over the clashes, police said.
Authorities also have detained at least eight university students for alleged acts against constitutional order and security, accusing them of planning attacks on state institutions. Protesters have demanded their immediate release.
Critics say Vucic has become increasingly authoritarian since coming to power over a decade ago, stifling democratic freedoms while allowing corruption and organized crime to flourish, which he has denied.
Serbia is formally seeking entry to the European Union, but Vucic's government has nourished relations with Russia and China.
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Telegraph
32 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Violent anti-racism protester avoids jail for attacking police
A Left-wing activist has avoided jail for a second time after attacking a police officer. Caroline Leneghan, 43, assaulted the female officer while being arrested for being drunk and disorderly at a pub in Pokesdown, Dorset, on Dec 27 last year. Leneghan previously escaped prison for assaulting a man at a migrant hotel protest. Poole magistrates' court heard the police van taking Leneghan to the station after the police officer assault had to stop twice because of her violent outbursts in the back. At one stage, the former NHS nurse slipped out of her handcuffs and was said to have brandished them at the officer like a weapon before being restrained. After pleading guilty to assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and the use of threatening language, Leneghan was fined £80 and ordered to pay £100 compensation to the officer she assaulted. David Finney, prosecuting, told magistrates: 'The defendant is alleged to have run towards a security guard to confront them and was described as shouting and screaming, so she was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and handcuffed.' He added: 'The officer said she feared she was going to be assaulted with the handcuffs.' 'Excruciating pain' Juliet Osborne, mitigating, said Leneghan was pregnant and in a 'heightened' state outside the pub as her former partner had been racially abused by a group of men. She said Leneghan had been in 'excruciating' pain as the handcuffs had trapped a nerve on her wrist. Ms Osborne added: 'She has reflected on the incident and expresses remorse and regrets the fact that [the police officer] felt she was in danger. It was not her intention to make her feel that way.' In April, Leneghan walked free with a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years, convicted of assaulting a man at an immigration demonstration in the wake of the Southport killings. During the rally in the summer of 2025, Leneghan snatched an iPhone from Dylan Fontaine and smashed it on the ground. Leneghan then lunged at Mr Fontaine when he attempted to pick it up. Leneghan also accused Mr Fontaine of being a racist and a Fascist, incited others to 'swarm' around him, and put him in fear of being attacked. The 43-year-old denied charges of assault and criminal damage but was found guilty. District Judge Orla Austin said it was because Leneghan was 20 weeks pregnant that she was not going to jail. Leneghan was ordered to pay Mr Fontaine £300 compensation, £200 court costs and a victim surcharge of £154. Leneghan's suspended sentence came after allegations of 'two-tier justice' over the way the authorities handle Left-wing versus Right-wing disorder and protest. Her sentence for the migrant hotel incident was not taken into account during her trial for the police officer assault, because the offence was committed before her April sentencing.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Left-wing 'anti-racism' activists clash with police and anti-migrant activists as migrant hotel protests rock London's rich postcodes - as 'asylum seekers' laugh, film and wave
Anti-racism activists clashed with police and anti-migrant protesters on Saturday outside a London hotel where asylum seekers are being housed. Both protesting groups gathered near the Thistle City Barbican hotel in wealthy Islington, north London. Anti-immigration protesters chanted under the banner 'Thistle Barbican needs to go - locals say no', against the use of the hotel accommodating asylum seekers. A counter-protest, organised by Stand Up To Racism and supported by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as other groups including Finsbury Park Mosque and Islington Labour Party, also took to the streets. Clashes transpired between the two groups of demonstrators, before police separated the opposing sides, with the Metropolitan Police imposing conditions on both the protest and counter demonstration. A group of anti-fascist protesters blocked a junction outside the hotel in breach of conditions, with officers being forced to push their way into the crowd to detain several demonstrators, dragging them out by their arms and legs. Then, the group was moved from the road where officers informed them they were in breach of conditions put in place, before forming a circle around the protesters. According to Metropolitan Police, nine people have been arrested. Metropolitan Police said on X this morning: 'There is an increased police presence in the Clerkenwell area today where a protest against the use of a hotel to accommodate asylum seekers and a related counter protest are due to take place later'. But by the afternoon, the police force said: 'Officers have cleared the junction where counter protesters had assembled in breach of the conditions in place. 'There have been nine arrests so far, with seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions.' Of those arrested, one was detained for their support for Palestine Action and another for a public order offence. Seven others were detained for breaching Public Order conditions. Meanwhile, people believed to be migrants were seen filming and laughing as protesters and counter-demonstrators clashed in the streets of Islington today. It comes after a coach of suspected migrants was seen arriving at the four-star Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf at around 1.40am this morning. 'Patriots of Britain' and 'Together for the Children' have also voiced their support for the protests. A student counter-protester outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel said he wants migrants to 'feel safe' in Britain. Anti-fascist protesters take part in a counter demonstration as anti-refugee protesters hold a demonstration outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in London, United Kingdom on August 02, 2025 Pat Prendergast, 21, said: 'I want people to feel safe. I think the (rival protesters) over there are making people feel unsafe. 'I want to stand up in solidarity and say that, you know, we want people here. We want migrants. We want asylum seekers.' A noticeably smaller group of protesters waved union flags and held banners outside the hotel, with one man chanting in the direction of the hotel: ''Get these scum off our streets'. The Metropolitan Police previously said plans were in place to 'respond to any protest activity' in the vicinity of other London hotels being used to accommodate asylum seekers. Anyone participating in the anti-asylum hotel protest must remain within King Charles Square and that the assembly must not begin before 1pm and must conclude by 4pm, in line with conditions imposed by the Met. Counter protesters also must remain in Lever Street, near the junction with Central Street, and that the assembly must not begin before 12pm and must conclude by 4pm. Chief Superintendent Clair Haynes, in charge of the policing operation, said: 'We have been in discussions with the organisers of both protests in recent days, building on the ongoing engagement between local officers, community groups and partners. 'We understand that there are strongly held views on all sides. People believed to be migrants were seen filming and laughing as protesters and counter-demonstrators clashed in the streets of Islington today One man could be seen giving a thumbs up to those below, while others attempted to cover their faces as they peered out of the window Nine people have been arrested so far, with seven detained for breaching Public Order conditions 'Our officers will police without fear or favour, ensuring those exercising their right to protest can do so safely, but intervening at the first sign of actions that cross the line into criminality. 'We have used our powers under the Public Order Act to put conditions in place to prevent serious disorder and to minimise serious disruption to the lives of people and businesses in the local community. 'Those conditions identify two distinct protest areas where the protests must take place, meaning the groups will be separated but still within sight and sound of each other.' Elsewhere, at The New Bridge Hotel in Newcastle there are set to be protests with online posts advertising them as 'for our children, for our future'. A person can be seen peering behind a curtain inside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel A 'stop the far right and fascists in Newcastle' counter-protest has also been organised by Stand Up To Racism at the nearby Laing Art Gallery. In a statement, they said: 'Yet again far-right and fascist thugs are intent on bringing their message of hate to Newcastle. They aim to build on years of Islamophobia, anti-migrant sentiment and scapegoating. 'In Epping and elsewhere recently we have already seen intimidation and violence aimed at refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. 'Newcastle, like the rest of the North East, has a well-earned reputation for unity in the face of those who seek to divide us. Whatever problems we face, racism and division are not the answer.' Northumbria Police have been approached for comment. On Friday, around 100 people attended a protest outside the Stanwell Hotel in Spelthorne in Surrey, during which a packet of lit firelighters was thrown at police. A man was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson and inquiries are ongoing to trace another suspect, the police force said. Officers also arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and aggravated trespass following a protest at the same location on Thursday evening. A man waves a St George flag as protests surrounding a hotel believed to be housing migrants continues in north London today It comes after people to be asylum seekers appear moved into a glitzy four-star hotel in London under the cover of darkness. A coach full of suspected migrants was seen arriving at the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf at around 1.40am on Saturday morning. Tower Hamlets Council confirmed the Government intends to use the hotel - which has around 500 rooms - for asylum seekers in a move that has angered anti-migrant protesters and guests whose bookings have been cancelled Footage of the passengers getting off the coach showed they were all men, with the vast majority dressed in matching grey tracksuit tops and bottoms. They were helped by masked security guards, some of whom appeared to be wearing body cameras. Last week, workers were seen hauling beds and mattresses into the hotel in preparation for the arrival of 'hundreds' of asylum seekers. A barricade of metal fencing was placed around the hotel by the Metropolitan Police after anti-migrant demonstrators protested the plan for immigrants to be housed there. Met Police officers were called to the Britannia International Hotel last week amid warnings the 'discontent is real' in Britain. Footage on social media shows eggs were thrown, while a police helicopter was circling above as officers on the ground blocked the entrance to the hotel which has more than 500 rooms and is located on the waterfront of the South Dock. The Canary Wharf protest did not reach the violence seen in Epping, with YouTuber-types making up a large proportion of the crowd in preparation for any tension. However, there were still dozens of protesters - some wearing masks and others draped in St George's flags. One placard said: 'This is a peaceful protest to protect our own.' Counter-protesters also gathered outside the scene - and in one clip appeared to be escorted away from the hotel by police as protesters followed behind. Furious hotel guests have left damning reviews online, claiming they were told their stays were 'cancelled'. One wrote: 'My confirmed reservation was cancelled less than 24 hours before my stay via a brief phone call, citing a 'private hire' event.' Another said: 'Completely unprofessional company. Hotel cancelled my booking at last minute because they had a bulk booking.' Dozens of police officers were deployed to the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf Protesters gathered outside the hotel, some wearing masks and others draped in St George's flags Police officers blocked access to the hotel which the Government intends to use to house migrants It comes as footage of Essex Police helping counter-demonstrators from a nearby station to the Bell Hotel in Epping on July 17 emerged after the force initially denied offering help Be the first to comment What's your take on this matter? Comment now And a third fumed: 'Booked in for three nights on 18th July. Told we couldn't stay on Sunday night no explanation but waiter said they were closing. Left to go to other hotel 1 hr away on Sunday. Waste of a day.' While guests claimed they were not given a reason for the cancellations, a spokesman for Tower Hamlets Council confirmed: 'We are aware of the Government's decision to use the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. 'It is important that the Government ensures that there is a full package of support for those staying at the hotel. 'We are working with the Home Office and partners to make sure that all necessary safety and safeguarding arrangements are in place.' Local residents group chief Maxi Gorynski is an IT worker renting a high-rise flat in Canary Wharf. He made clear he wanted to distinguish himself and fellow residents from far-right demonstrators, saying they were 'notably distinct'. However, he told the Financial Times he was concerned the suspected asylum seekers could bring 'bag theft and gig economy fraud, all the way up to robbery, arson, sexual assault, rape, even murder' to their area. Felicity J Lord estate agent John Costea also told the FT that clients from the UK and abroad had asked 'many questions' about what is going on, such as 'how is it going to reflect their property value'. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Since this Government took office, we have taken immediate action to fix the asylum system, removing more than 35,000 people with no right to be here in our first year. 'From over 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing almost £9 million a day, there are now less than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this Parliament. 'We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country, and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together. 'In the interim, the security of the local communities within which hotels are located will always be our first priority.' Protests have broken out across the country this summer, with more than 150 gathering outside The Park Hotel, in Diss, Norfolk last week after the Home Office announced plans to change it from housing asylum-seeker families to single men. Trouble first broke out in Epping two weeks ago after Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the town by attempting to kiss her. He denies the charges. The protest started peacefully, but descended into frenzied violence when anti-migrant demonstrators clashed with counter protesters and police. A police officer sits in a car outside the entrance of the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf A police cordon and fencing is placed outside the Britannia International Hotel this morning A person waves an English flag from a car as it passes the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf One placard brought by a group of protesters said: 'This is a peaceful protest to protect our own.' Amid warnings 'discontent is real' in Britain, Met Police officers were called to the Britannia International Hotel, on Marsh Wall, Canary Wharf Furious hotel guests have left damning reviews online, claiming they were told their stays were 'cancelled' Police officers gather in front of counter-protesters outside the Canary Wharf hotel Essex Police has faced major questions after footage emerged of officers escorting pro-migrant activists to the hotel - despite the force initially denying this has happened. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted footage allegedly showing pro-migrant protesters being 'bussed' to the demonstration in police vans but Essex Police said this was 'categorically' untrue. However, after footage emerged of cops leading pro-migrant activists to the hotel by foot, Essex police admitted its officers had escorted the protesters. Farage had called for Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington to quit, saying it was 'absolutely disgraceful' and 'heads must roll'. But Chief Constable Harrington rejected claims his officers had given a higher level of protection to pro-migrant protesters. He said: 'The only protection that officers are doing is to those lawful and law-abiding people, whether they are in that accommodation, whether they are the people of Epping or whether they are people who are standing there with placards and banners wishing to make a very important and legitimate view, whichever your views about it. 'Where officers have intervened that is because there has been are not being partial in any way, shape or form.' When asked if he would resign, he said: 'No, I am not going to do that. This is not about me, this is about the communities of Essex... the issue is not about my resignation.' He said Essex Police made 10 arrests, adding: 'What has been unacceptable has been the people who have come to Epping and committed violence, who have attacked people who work at the hotel, who have attacked officers, who have damaged property and who have caused fear and disruption to the people of Epping. 'That is not tolerable, it will not be tolerated, and to that end, we have made 10 arrests.' In a warning to Farage and other politicians about their online posts, he added: 'It is not the police's job to clamp down on elected politicians... All I am asking is that people are responsible about what they say and they consider the real world consequences.' MPs and council leaders have raised fears that Britain could be heading for another 'summer of riots' - in a repeat of the street violence that followed the Southport murders last year. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner warned that anger at high levels of illegal immigration is risking social cohesion in Britain's poorest communities and must be addressed. Her comments came after Sir Keir Starmer was warned by Epping Forest Council Leader Christ Whitbread that the UK is a 'powder keg' that could explode. Newly appointed shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly criticised the Prime Minister for a 'disconnect from reality' when it comes to housing asylum seekers.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Vandalising Wes Streeting's office is not protest, it is violent criminal intimidation
It is a sight that is becoming more common as social justice warriors abandon old-fashioned ideas of legal protest: a prominent MP turns up for work at his constituency office only to find the windows smashed and offensive graffiti painted across the front of the building. The clean-up costs will be met by the tax-payer but the fear and intimidation that the attack was intended to generate will be felt most keenly by vulnerable staff members working in Wes Streeting's Ilford North headquarters, and even by the health secretary's constituents. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Trans Bash Back, a 'trans-led direct action project'. Sharing an image of the front of the office shortly after it had been vandalised, they wrote on social media: 'Don't want action? Don't kill kids.' That sinister threat was even echoed by a Scottish Green candidate standing at next year's Holyrood elections. Iris Duane took to Twitter in the aftermath of the attack to write: 'If you don't want 'child killer' sprayed onto your office, have you considered not killing children?' The accusation of infanticide comes from Streeting's acceptance of the recommendations of the extensive and authoritative Cass review of health care for adolescents questioning their gender identity, which led to a ban on new patients under 18 being prescribed puberty blockers. It's natural that people who feel strongly about this issue or the other two topics in the holy trinity of social justice causes – Palestine and climate change – should want to vent their fury at politicians who disagree with them. But the modern era has spawned a new type of activist who sees flagrant breaches of the law, including criminal damage, as an entirely legitimate form of protest. This seems to be based on a belief that their cause is special, even uniquely virtuous, and that because the injustice felt by the protesters when they don't get their own way is felt so intensely, the range of 'remedies' open to them is broadened beyond the limits of the law. Even when protesters are prosecuted and jailed, there is outrage from these same groups who seem to believe that violence, provided it is perpetrated for the 'right' cause, must be exempt from all consequences. Even our national broadcaster is partly culpable for encouraging, by its inaction, such dangerous exceptionalism. The attack on Streeting's office is but the latest incident by activists taking out their frustrations and sense of entitlement on the constituency bases of MPs who refuse to vote the way they demand. In November 2023, pro-Palestinian activists daubed Labour MP Jo Stevens's Cardiff office with red paint after she abstained on a parliamentary vote on Gaza. A year earlier former Tory MP Peter Bone's constituency office in Wellingborough was similarly vandalised, apparently in protest at recent sleaze allegations against his party. And earlier this year, the Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley, was forced to abandon her constituency office after it was targeted three times in as many weeks. These are all egregious attacks on our democratic process and democratic norms. And each of them was adequately covered on the BBC News website. But as of today, no word on the latest attack on Streeting's office has been reported by the BBC. Which is deeply odd, since the corporation even has a special designated section of its vast website devoted to trans issues, replete with preferred pronouns and tales of 'stunning and brave' gender transitions. And yet, when the darker side of trans activism is revealed in all its shoddy and unpleasant details, when public sector employees live in fear that the violence perpetrated on buildings will be targeted at them next, the BBC suddenly has nothing to say, and will not even report the facts. In an era where two MPs in the last decade have been murdered by violent extremists, the need to protect our elected representatives – and their staff – from all forms of violence and intimidation has never been more urgent. But such protection is not nearly enough. The media must be made to understand that for all the fears of a growth in the threat of the political 'far Right', fascism comes from both sides of the political spectrum, and so does the accompanying violence. Forcing others, by violence or intimidation, to parrot your own political opinions is a fundamental aspect of fascism. Those who cross the line separating legal from illegal protest demean the democratic process because they have demonstrated that they themselves believe it no longer has any value for them. Only by exposing every incident of vandalism, wanton damage, threatening behaviour or literal violence, whatever the motives of the perpetrators, can the foundations of civilisation be prevented from crumbling.
