Hundreds of police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters around the Novi Sad university campus on September 5 as students gathered to demand reforms.

The mass protest was the latest marking 10 months of demonstrations around Serbia and beyond, calling for early elections and a crackdown on corruption.

Students argue that the lax enforcement of rules was a key cause in the deaths of 16 people in Novi Sad in November 2024, when a train station roof collapsed.

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Protesters are hoping to oust President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party party but the government has not responded to the call for early elections.

Crowds for the protest gathered in Novi Sad near the entrance to the universitys Faculty of Philosophy, which has become a flashpoint in the movement for change as police officers have begun patrolling the campus.

Police say they are responding to student sit-ins and are only present to restore order but student ire has been rising, while some university deans are accused of collaborating with authorities to suppress dissent.

As one demonstrator put it while speaking on a stage at the event: Student rebellion and a free university today are the last line of defense for education, truth, and dignity. If we allow them to destroy the university, we accept living in an absolutely authoritarian regime where there is no place for free knowledge, honesty, or the future of this country."