Serbian opposition legislators threw smoke grenades and used pepper spray inside parliament yesterday to protest against the government and to support demonstrating students, with one legislator suffering a stroke during the chaos.
Four months of student-led demonstrations, sparked by the deaths of 15 people when a railway station roof collapsed, have drawn in teachers, farmers and others to become the biggest threat yet to President Aleksandar Vucic’s decade-long rule, with many denouncing rampant corruption and incompetence in government.
At the legislative session, after the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) approved the agenda, some opposition politicians ran from their seats towards the parliamentary speaker and scuffled with security guards.
Others tossed smoke grenades and used pepper spray. A live TV broadcast showed black and pink smoke billowing inside the parliament, which has seen brawls before, in the decades since the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990.
Vucic later said authorities would hold all those deputies involved in the fracas to account, calling it “hooliganism”.
Under Serbian law, parliamentary deputies enjoy immunity from prosecution but can lose it if they commit serious crimes.
Speaker Ana Brnabic said three legislators were injured and one, Jasmina Obradovic of the SNS party, had suffered a stroke and was hospitalised.
As the session continued, ruling coalition politicians debated while opposition legislators whistled and blew horns.
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