Serbia: Police fire tear gas at anti-government protesters

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Serbian capital Belgrade on Sunday to denounce last weekend's parliamentary and local elections and demand their annulment.

Protesters faced off with riot police, as some of them attempted to break into the Belgrade town hall, where the local election commission is based.

What happened at the protests?

Police fired pepper spray to ward off the protesters trying to break into the town hall. Some of the protesters climbed the building, breaking windows and pelting them with stones.

Protesters chanted slogans against President Aleksandar Vucic, calling him a "thief" and comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Interior Ministry in a statement called on the protesters to "refrain from breaking into the town hall."

"By reacting calmly we are trying not to hurt protesters," Vucic said in an address early in the evening.

What happened at the elections?

Vucic claimed a sweeping victory for his party in parliamentary and local elections.

His populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) won about 46% of the vote in the parliamentary elections, while the leading opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) received 23.5%, according to official results.

The SNS also claimed victory in municipal elections in the capital, Belgrade, where the party faced its stiffest challenge from SPN. Opposition groups have questioned the validity of the contest, accusing the government of allowing unregistered voters from neighboring Bosnia to vote illegally in the capital.

A team of international observers, including representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), decried a series of "irregularities," including "vote buying" and "ballot box stuffing."

Protests have been taking place outside the election commission since the vote, denouncing the alleged fraud.

rmt/sri (AFP, AP, Reuters)