Serbia Detains Police Officers for Torturing Anti-Corruption Protesters

The Ministry of the Interior of Serbia detained nine active police officers and one former officer on November 5, 2025, for allegedly using excessive force against detainees. The suspects, members of an elite unit, are accused of torturing and intimidating individuals in a government compound garage on August 14-15, 2025, to obtain information and punish them.

These arrests mark the first major legal actions regarding violence against protesters who demonstrated following a November 1, 2024, railway station canopy collapse in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. The resulting anti-corruption movement eventually led to the ouster of the Serbian Progressive Party in a snap parliamentary election on October 25, 2026, where the Student List emerged as the victors.