Serbian authorities have detained ten police officers over alleged abuse of protesters detained during last year’s anti-corruption demonstrations in Belgrade, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Nine serving officers and one former officer, all of whom served in an elite police unit, were detained over events on 14 and 15 August 2025, when several people were held in the garage of a government compound in central Belgrade.
The ministry said the officers used force and threats to inflict great pain and severe suffering on a larger number of detainees, intending to obtain information from them and to intimidate and unlawfully punish them. It gave only the initials of those detained, and has not yet set out what formal charges, if any, they will face.
The detentions are the first major arrests connected with alleged violence against protesters who have taken to the streets in Serbia over the past two years. The protest movement began after 16 people were killed when a concrete canopy collapsed at the renovated railway station in Novi Sad on 1 November 2024, and it grew into a sustained anti-corruption campaign.
Police used tear gas, crowd-control vehicles and stun grenades to disperse crowds during the protests, and dozens of students and activists have accused officers of excessive force that left them injured or psychologically traumatised.
The unrest ultimately led to the ouster of the populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), loyal to former president Aleksandar Vucic, in a snap parliamentary election on 25 October, won by the leaderless Student List. Students, activists, opposition politicians and rights watchdogs have accused Vucic and the SNS of political violence, pressure against the media, ties to organised crime and rampant corruption, accusations Vucic and his allies deny.
The account of the detentions rests on the Interior Ministry statement as reported by Reuters, and further details of any proceedings against the officers have not yet been made public.
Sources: Reuters, “Serbia detains police officers over alleged use of force against protesters”, 4 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/serbia-detains-police-officers-over-alleged-use-force-against-protesters-2026-11-04/
