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Serbian protesters block city center with cars

January 5, 1997
Web posted at: 3:15 p.m. EST (2015 GMT)

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BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuter) -- Serbian opposition protesters brought central Belgrade to a standstill on Sunday with a slow-motion cavalcade of cars that outfoxed a police ban on street marches.

car

Police outlawed the marches after a December 24 riot between Zajedno backers and government loyalists, but daily protests against election fraud by ruling Socialists continued in squares and pedestrian malls.

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The government of autocratic President Slobodan Milosevic has faced almost seven straight weeks of demonstrations for having annulled municipal elections won by the opposition Zajedno (Together) coalition.

At their peak up to 250,000 people demonstrated daily in cities across Serbia, and the opposition leaders have sworn to keep protesting until Milosevic drops his refusal to recognize their election triumphs.

Cars 'break down'

Cars started blocking the center of the city as the novel form of protest began as scheduled at 1300 GMT, under the watchful eyes of traffic policemen present in much larger numbers than usual on Sundays.

Several cars "broke down" in the main city thoroughfare. Scores of laughing and jostling protesters started pushing them, adding to the din and the traffic jam.

protest

"Our intent is to mount a protest drive along those streets that our president will not allow us to march on," Vuk Draskovic, a Zajedno leader, told 60,000 protesters on Saturday.

There was no immediate response from the police forces. Zajedno leaders wrote to the police on Saturday asking them not to be drawn into a conflict with the people.

"Do not let the thieves in the SPS (Socialist Party) abuse you and push you into a conflict with the people, who live badly, just like you," Zajedno said in a letter to the police faxed to Reuters.

"While we are freezing in the streets together, President Milosevic's son is driving the most expensive cars," the letter added, referring to the 23-year-old's reputation for racing costly German and French cars.

Dissent broadens

"We are not in conflict with you, we're only asking for the law to be respected and our votes returned ... we are to look each other in the eyes," Zajedno told the force, reportedly hit by divisions within its ranks over its repressive role.

The opposition appeal to the police, once thought the strongest bulwark to Milosevic's position, came after gestures of dissent came from other important power bases, the army and the Church.

Zajedno's protest has been backed by Western powers and by international investigators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who verified opposition claims to have won 15 disputed cities, including the capital Belgrade.

After 10 days of silence, the government on Friday admitted Zajedno had won a few of the smaller cities but contended that in other districts no party gained a majority or the results remained inconclusive pending further study.

But diplomats said the response was so limited and murky that it effectively rebuffed the OSCE team's findings.

The United States has since denounced the SPS's "hollow assurances" of commitment to democratic principles.

Western governments led by Washington have told Milosevic to forget about financial aid to rebuild the disintegrating economy of Serbian-led federal Yugoslavia unless Zajedno's victories are reinstated and broad democratic reforms undertaken.

 
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