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Serbia after the students' election win: police officers detained, broadcast chiefs resign

Serbia · since Oct 25, 2026

The news everyone is arguing about, checked like a protest card: two newsrooms or more, both sides, every line sourced.

What happened

The leaderless Student List won the snap parliamentary election on 25 October and Vučić conceded. On 1 November the head of the Criminal Police Directorate and a senior organised-crime commander were arrested on suspicion of abusing their positions in a murder investigation from May. On 4 November the Interior Ministry said nine serving officers and one former officer from an elite unit had been detained on suspicion of torturing and intimidating people held in a garage of the government compound in Belgrade on 14–15 August 2025. Reuters calls these the first major arrests linked to violence against protesters in the past two years. The heads of the public broadcasters RTS and RTV have resigned.1234

Who's saying what

  • The Student List

    It has demanded that top police, intelligence and judicial officials resign, and wants urgent corruption investigations and a review of public contracts. A representative said: "Institutions belong to the citizens and the law applies to everyone" and "The Students' List is not here to take revenge."3

  • Aleksandar Vučić and his party

    After groups stormed the Informer TV station, Vučić accused the election winners of "revolutionary terror". He and his allies deny accusations of political violence, media pressure, organised crime ties and corruption.13

  • The Interior Ministry

    It said the officers used force and threats that "inflicted great pain and severe suffering" on a larger number of people, to get information from them and to intimidate and punish them. It gave only the officers' initials.1

  • Prosecutors

    They said the arrest of the Criminal Police head has "nothing to do with" the election result.2

  • The European Union

    It has offered the new authorities help on democracy and the rule of law. Serbia's bid to join the EU stalled under Vučić.3

What's next

The outgoing authorities are still in place and AP reported that the formal handover would take several weeks; a rerun at 50 polling stations was scheduled for 1 November. Reuters reported no charges or hearing dates yet for the ten officers.13

The full story

Serbia is changing fast after the Student List, a leaderless movement that grew out of the protests over the Novi Sad station canopy collapse that killed 16 people in November 2024, won the 25 October election and ended 14 years of rule by Aleksandar Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party. Senior police officers have since been arrested, ten current and former officers are held over the alleged torture of detainees during the 2025 protests, and the heads of the public broadcasters have resigned. Prosecutors say at least one arrest is unrelated to the election; Vučić accuses the winners of "revolutionary terror". The new parliament and government have not yet taken over.

checked Nov 5, 2026

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