Original article (in Serbian) was published on 1/11/2024; Author: Milica Ljubičić
Hundreds of citizens and some opposition representatives gathered last night at the Old Sava Bridge in protest against the announcement by Belgrade authorities to remove this 82-year-old bridge and replace it with a new one. Some pro-government media claimed the protest failed, stating that only a “handful of citizens” attended. The tabloid Alo went the furthest, illustrating the “failed protests” with an aerial photo of the bridge showing only around 20 people. However, Arhiv javnih skupova estimates that slightly more than a thousand citizens attended last night’s protest in defence of the bridge. Additionally, activists have not abandoned their demands, with some spending the night near the bridge and announcing they will keep watch to prevent machines from starting the bridge removal process.
The Mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Sapic, has been announcing for some time that the Old Sava Bridge, which connects New Belgrade with the rest of the capital, will be removed and that a new bridge will be built in the coming years. However, some citizens oppose the demolition of this bridge, which dates back to World War II.
The announcement by Belgrade authorities that preparations to remove the Old Sava Bridge would begin in early November was the reason for yesterday’s protests by some citizens and opposition representatives.
Some pro-government media reported that the protest at the Old Sava Bridge “failed”.
The tabloid Alo highlighted this claim in the headline of the article about the protest, featured in its print edition.
As “proof of the failed protest”, they included an aerial photo of the Old Sava Bridge showing only around 20 people.
In the article, Alo states that the “protest organized by some opposition activists began around 6 PM and ended around 8 PM after a certain number of citizens walked across the bridge”. The tabloid then concludes that “citizens, yet again, have shown they are fed up with political antics of this kind”.
The same topic was also covered last night on the tabloid’s web portal. “DISASTROUS TURNOUT AT THE OPPOSITION PROTEST. A handful of citizens at the Old Sava Bridge—if it weren’t sad, it would be funny”, states the headline.
Alo illustrated this “handful of citizens” with another photo of the bridge, this time a close-up, which also shows only about 20 people.
The website Srbija danas also published the same photo of the “failed protest”.
The website Novosti similarly used an aerial photo of the bridge to claim that the “opposition protest against the removal of the Old Sava Bridge was a total fiasco”.
The claim that the protest “failed” was also published with the same photo on the Politika website.
However, tabloid claims that only a “handful of citizens” attended the protest are contradicted by estimates provided by Arhiv javnih skupova which typically assesses the size of crowds at mass gatherings like protests.
“Between 1,000 and 1,100 citizens participated in tonight’s protest against the planned demolition of the Old Sava Bridge, with 950 of them joining the walk across the bridge. This was the largest protest to date regarding this bridge”, Arhiv javnih skupova stated last night on platform X, adding that they used their own footage for the estimates.
Videos shared by former MP Djordje Miketic, now an activist with the “Most ostaje” (“The Bridge Stays”) initiative and a speaker at the protest, further show that there were indeed more than a “handful of citizens” present.
Additional videos were posted by an account Cuvari/ke vatre.
Additionally, the presence of several hundred citizens is confirmed by photos published on the websites of multiple media outlets such as Radio Free Europe, Vreme, and N1 Television, whose reporter broadcast live from the protest last night.
While tabloids claim that the protests failed, writer Dejan Atanackovic, on behalf of the initiative “Most ostaje” announced an escalation of the protests, stating that activists will also block Belgrade Waterfront.
“We are keeping the promise I made yesterday, which is that we will go and block Belgrade Waterfront. Why? Because this bridge is planned for demolition for one and only reason, and that is the expansion of that monstrous criminal project they call Belgrade Waterfront”, he stated for N1.
He also mentioned that the city still has not responded to the activists’ demands.
“Of course, we insist on institutional solutions. We insisted on this two years ago as well. We invited [city officials] Vesic, Sapic, and their experts to participate in our public discussion. At that time, we were doing the state’s job; however, none of them showed up, nor did they want to participate in any dialogue”, Atanackovic told N1, adding that they also invited Sapic today to come and talk to them.
Although the preparations for dismantling the bridge were originally scheduled for November 1, the Belgrade City Secretariat announced yesterday that the work will instead begin tomorrow, November 2, when traffic on the bridge will also be halted.
As reported by N1’s reporter last night, citizens gathered at the roundabout near the old bus station, and after speeches, citizens marched across the bridge with flashlights in protest. N1 reported that a group of activists opposed to the bridge’s demolition spent the night near the park by the former bus station, and shifts of activists are planned in the coming days to protect the bridge and prevent any machinery from starting work if it appears.
