AT LEAST 100,000 people descended on Belgrade on Saturday for a mass rally seen as a culmination of months-long protests against Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.
Police said that the crowd reached 107,000 people at the peak of the protest.
Serbian independent media described the rally as the biggest ever in the country, saying the numbers were much higher.
The rally was part of a nationwide anti-corruption movement that erupted after a concrete canopy collapsed at a train station in Serbia’s north in November, killing 15 people.
Almost daily demonstrations have been held. Many in Serbia blamed the crash on rampant government corruption, negligence and disrespect of construction safety regulations, demanding accountability for the victims.
Mr Vucic has claimed that Western intelligence services were behind almost daily student-led protests with an aim to oust him from power.
Ahead of the demonstration, Mr Vucic repeatedly warned of alleged plans for unrest while threatening arrests and harsh sentences for any incidents.
Some protesters carried banners that read, “He’s Finished!” Crowds chanted “Pump it Up,” a slogan adopted during the past four months of student-led protests.
One protester, Dejan Simic, said: “This is just the beginning of the end, a process which I hope will end soon,” he said.