Scuffles Erupt as Serbia's President is Sworn In

Several incidents, including attacks on journalists, marked a gathering of Aleksandar Vucic's supporters outside the Serbian parliament, while he was being sworn in as the new President on Wednesday.

Thousands of Progressive Party supporters, who were brought in by buses, celebrated the start of Vucic's presidency outside the assembly, while scattered groups of anti-Vucic protesters tried to approach the building.

A journalist from the daily newspaper Danas, Lidija Valtner, reported being attacked while filming another incident.

"I was talking to a gentleman who was previously displaced by Progressive Party supporters for carrying an anti-government banner, when I saw two huge guys in black shirts drag away an activist from the [anti-Vucic] 'Against the Dictatorship' movement," Valtner told BIRN.

She said that one man tried to take away her cellphone when she tried to film what was going on. While she was defending herself against him, one of the men in black shirts grabbed her, pulling and shoving her to the nearby park.

At the same time, she said they dragged away the activist whom they held in a chokehold, while he shouted that they were suffocating him.

After she was released, Valtner says plain-clothes police showed up. She left the scene in shock, and the police did not ask for her statement.

"I will consult at the newsroom about what to do next," Valtner said, asked whether she will press charges.

Serbian journalists' associations condemned the incident, demanding that the attackers face consequences.

On another occasion, police checked the IDs of BIRN, Insajder and VICE reporters without explanation after they filmed an incident in which Vucic fans ripped a banner carried by protesters.