(18 May 2000) Natural Sound
XFA
Baton-wielding police fired tear gas into crowds of stone-throwing protesters in Belgrade on Thursday.
The tensions followed President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on non-government media.
Hundreds of police in full riot gear encircled over 10-thousand protesters who had massed in front of the opposition-run city hall.
Employees from the banned TV station Studio B set up a make-shift studio on the city hall balcony to read the nightly news.
Later, police vehicles charged the crowd several times, forcing them to retreat.
Protesters responded by throwing stones and fire bombs at the police while they shouted "Kill yourself Slobodan and save Serbia!"
As the crowd withdrew from the city hall, police could be seen collaring protesters, hurling them to the ground and pummeling them with rubber truncheons.
Small groups of protesters swarmed through nearby streets, pursued by police.
The number and extent of injuries could not be immediately determined.
The clashes marked a new escalation in tensions in the wake of Wednesday's government takeover of the opposition-controlled television station Studio B and other media not controlled by the federal government.
The takeover of Studio B, as well as Radio B2-92, student Radio Index and the leading independent daily Blic was condemned by several international organisations and Western countries.
Critics claimed the move was unprecedented in its scope and represented the most serious challenge to the pro-democracy opposition in years.
At the same time as the Belgrade protest, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the southern city of Nis, which is also controlled by the opposition.
Fearing an escalation of violence, the influential Serbian Orthodox Church had appealed Thursday for an easing of tensions and called on the government to halt the media crackdown.
The church also urged the release of those detained during clashes on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, four officers were injured between police and some 30-thousand opposition supporters, including fans of the Belgrade Red Star football club.
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