BELGRADE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Protesters entered a Serbian television station supportive of former President Aleksandar Vucic late on Monday, interrupting broadcasting to call for the arrest of its editor, as tens of thousands took to the streets for a second night of post-election celebrations.
Serbia's Student List, born out of a student-led anti-corruption protest movement, unseated Vucic in a historic election on Sunday, bringing to an end 14 years in power for a man who served as information minister under Slobodan Milosevic and who maintained tight control over the media.
Live footage broadcast by Informer TV showed around 30 people walk into its newsroom on Monday evening and surround editor-in-chief and owner Dragan Vucicevic. Some protesters shouted: "This is how it is in free Serbia"and "Where is Vucic now?" Some also called for Vucicevic's arrest.
On his personal Instagram account, Vucic, dressed in a jumper displaying the crossed-out word "sorry", called the event an attack on free speech and the freedom of journalism.
CALL FOR CALM
The student movement has no clear leader and Serbians are waiting to see whom it will appoint as prime minister and to other key positions. The leading candidate on its election list, cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic, called for calm.
"We ask of you to stay calm and dignified until the end of the electoral process, just like you have been until now," he said in a video posted on his Instagram account. "Don’t resort to any form of violence. Your Student List and your student movement urge you on this."
The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia said in a statement that it would submit an application on Tuesday to have Informer TV's broadcasting licence revoked, citing systematic violations of law and programme obligations.
"On the very first day of (Student List) power, they want to ban the media. They have said everything about themselves, and nothing about us," Informer's Vucicevic told Reuters.
A group of people also gathered outside the private pro-Vucic Pink TV station in Belgrade on Monday evening, which was cordoned off by police.
Earlier, public broadcaster RTV in the Vojvodina region began its evening news bulletin by apologising to viewers for failing to fulfil its role, citing uncritical one-sided reporting.
The announcement was reminiscent of a move by the main Hungarian state TV channel, which in July, following the election defeat of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban'sFidesz party three months earlier, displayed a black screen with the message: "Public media cannot lie. We apologise for doing so for many years."
Serbia was ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, its lowest position ever, and worst in the EU-Balkan region.
TheCrta election monitor said last week that television stations with national reach gave three-quarters of the time allotted to politicians to government representatives. The Student List was portrayed negatively more than 80% of the time it was discussed, Crta added.
(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; additional reporting by Jana Simovic; Writing by Kirsten Donovan, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
