10 October 2010 | 11:43 -> 19:33 | Source: B92
BELGRADE -- In downtown Belgrade, Serbian police (MUP) officers clashed with 6,000 protesters rallying against the Belgrade Pride gay parade.
Serbian President Boris Tadić reacted to the violence by saying that "the state is ready to get tough with the hooligans".
The toll for today is more 140 persons injured, the number which includes 124 policemen and 17 rioters. The rest are civilians, some of whom were innocent bystanders. A number of the injured sustained severe traumas. Police detained 207 persons, of whom 100 are placed in custody for violent behavior and looting.
There were several incidents since this morning and MUP Gendarmerie and other special units were using armored vehicles and tear gas, trying to regain control over the rally. Police clashed with the rioters near Palace Albania, where they were pushed back from Terazije Sq. The protesters were shouting "Go to Kosovo" at the officers.
The mobile mammography unit was stoned, bought with the help of donors and B92, in downtown Belgrade while the doctors were examining their patients.
The headquarerts of the ruling Democratic Party were also under attack and were set ablaze for a short while. The building of the national television RTS did not escape the attack of hooligans, who also tried to storm the parliament building, but failed.
A number of vehicles were damaged today, including several parked cars and 11 police vehicles, two buses and two trolleybuses. The hooligans ripped out traffic signs and used them as weapons against the police.
Incidents began in Slavija Sq., where tear gas was fired and one police officer was hurt when demonstrators threw stones at about 30-strong police cordon. The overpowered police retreated seeking reinforcements. B92 TV reported that eight Molotov cocktails were thrown there.
According to the police information, another small group in the same area was forced to fall back and two rioters were detained.
Another group of about 50 youths gathered at the same time on top of the Kralja Milana Street, where they encountered a strong police cordon, placed near the Presidency of Serbia.
They chanted football songs and shouted insults at the policemen who secured the site and the Pride Parade participants.
More stones and bottles were pelted at police there.
In a nearby location at 10:30 CET, police officers in full riot gear stopped hundreds of mostly young people from moving forward.
The Pride Parade opponents pelted stones at the Gendarmes near Nikola Pašić Square, news agencies reported.
They came to the square and began throwing rocks at the officers, who tried to push them back from the parliament building.
Reinforcements came from the direction of the City Hall and managed to prevent further progress of the protesters. A police helicopter was seen flying over the sites of the clashes.
Some 200 protesters threw bottles, stones and bricks at the cordon placed between the presidency and parliament buildings.
The violence subsided in late afternoon.
Scores arrested in Belgrade after anti-gay riot
The Serbian Orthodox Church condemned the parade on Friday but also warned against violence against participants.
On Saturday, several thousand people had protested against the march. Right-wing groups say that homosexuality is contrary to Serbian religious and family values.
The BBCs Mark Lowen says homosexuality is still largely a taboo in Serbia, a conservative and religious nation.
A gay pride march planned last year was cancelled amid fears of violence.
Before the march, (scheduled at the time of Orthodox Sunday service, around 11 A.M. - WaP editor) the head of the EU mission in Serbia, Vincent Degert, addressed around 1,000 gay activists and their supporters who gathered at a park in downtown Belgrade surrounded by riot police and armoured vehicles.
"We are here to celebrate the values of tolerance, freedom of expression and assembly," Mr Degert told the crowd.
While the Gay Pride parade was moving though the city, several hundred protesters began chanting at those taking part as they tried to get close to the march.
"The hunt has begun," the AFP news agency reported them as saying. "Death to homosexuals."
Reports told of gangs of skinheads roaming the streets, throwing petrol bombs and setting off firecrackers as police battled to hold them back.
Thousands of police had sealed off central Belgrade to protect the event.
While the march took place in a heavily-protected area in and around Manjez park, violence flared at several points further afield in central Belgrade.
Anti-gay protesters have fought running battles with police in an effort to disrupt a Gay Pride march in Belgrade - the first in the city since 2001.
Rioters threw petrol bombs and stones at armed police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The office of the ruling Democratic Party was briefly set on fire, and at least one shot was fired.
Calm was eventually restored but more than 100 people, mostly police, were injured, with another 100 arrested.
Sundays march was the first Gay Pride parade in Serbia since a 2001 event was broken up in violent clashes provoked by far-right extremists.
Hooligan gangs
The Terazije boulevard was littered with rocks and debris by the time the rioting was quelled. Several cars were overturned and had been set on fire.
Democratic Party spokesperson Jelana Trivan said the violence had nothing to do with moral values.
"These are hooligan gangs which must be punished severely," Ms Trivan said.
The mayor of Belgrade, Dragan Djilas, said the rioters had used Gay Pride as an excuse for a brawl.
"Whats going on now has nothing to do with the Pride parade. Unfortunately there are always people who will use every opportunity to destroy their own city. Fortunately no lives were lost - this is the most important thing."
Marchers also bemoaned the continued evidence of agressive homophobia among some sections of Serbian society.
"It is a shame for me to march, to stand for what I am, and to have thousands of cops protect me from hysteric [sic] nationalists," lesbian activist Milena, 36, told Reuters.
This years event was being seen as a test of how far the country has come from the ultra-nationalism and violence of the 1990s and on its path to EU membership.
Mark Lowen BBC News, Belgrade :
As Gay Pride ended the street protests gathered pace. I stood on Terazije boulevard watching demonstrators hurl rocks at armed police, who responded with tear gas. Some officers retreated, bleeding.
Battles erupted in other parts of the city, too, and there is considerable damage to street furniture, including bus shelters and signposts.
This is not the image Serbia wants the world to see. A successful gay parade was supposed to be an indication of how far this country has come from the ultranationalism and violence of the 1990s.
The protection of minorities is crucial to Serbias EU aspirations. Chaos on the streets will anger a government determined to move on from a troubled past.
About 1,000 joined the Gay Pride march, according to an AFP estimate. This was far below 5,000-10,000 who took part in a protest on Saturday to demonstrate against it... source
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