Serbian Interior Minister Dacic: As of this morning, there are no protests in Serbia, including in Belgrade

Photo: Tanjug/JOVANA KULASEVIC

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said today that there are no blockades in Belgrade, or in the rest of Serbia this morning and that everything is functioning as usual, as well as that the police above all wish to avoid any clashes.

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"We are a part of the same people, only some are in uniform and others are not. Some support one side, others another, others yet another and so on, but that (streets) is not where politics is conducted. Some rules must be respected," Dacic told RTS and added that everything should be done to returned to normal, so that the situation calms down instead of escalating.

Dacic urged the citizens - regarding a protest in Uzice because seven persons who participated in the blockades got arrested - not to clash with the police.

"Did they break through a police cordon? Did they attack the police? Did they not release those videos themselves on social media? There's no discussion there," said the minister.

He added that everyone can protest as much as they want, but no one can say that someone is not guilty for hitting a police officer.

The minister also stressed that the police must not exceed their powers and if someone did that, they should be held accountable.

"The police act on orders to react only if someone attacks them and if they overstep that, they know how it works and charges will be filed against those people. The Internal Control Service will do its job, as will the prosecution, there is no doubt there," said Dacic.

When asked to comment on yesterday's attack on the house of Informer editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vucicevic, he said that this is precisely the kind of behavior that must not be allowed.

"Attacking people's home, threatening them, must not be allowed regardless of whether it's about Vucicevic or someone else. Whoever the victim of an attack is must have protection, but not only by the police, it should be a social standard to know that some things cannot be done," said Dacic.

According to him, the police must also act responsibly toward the citizens, while any violations of authority should be punished, but there also must be respect for what the police do, and an awareness that it is a serious crime if someone attacks an official.

"Journalists also belong to the category of people who do a very difficult job and no one must be targeted, and that is why every attack on a family, every attack on places where people live must be condemned because it endangers human lives," said the interior minister.

Speaking about a the fake account opened on Telegram in his name, Dacic said that this has not happened to him alone, and that there are a large number of similar reports.

"Many other people, whether well-known or not, that is, including ordinary citizens are victims of these hacker attacks. The only thing I know is that that number (the account is registered to) is from the US, and the process is underway to find out what this is about," said Dacic.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)