SERBIA BELGRADE PROTESTS AGAINST PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC ENTER 22ND DAY

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(11 Dec 1996) Serbo-Croat/Nat • • Hundreds of factory workers joined students demonstrating on the streets of the Serbian capital Belgrade for the 22nd day running on Wednesday in protest at President Slobodan Milosevic' government. • • Trade union leaders said workers in several factories had also gone on strike but were threatened not to leave their plants. • • Protests began last month when courts controlled by Milosevic annulled local election results that the opposition apparently won. • • After more than three weeks of mass protests hundreds of workers swelled the ranks of student demonstrators in Belgrade on Wednesday. • • The protests began after authorities annulled the November 17 elections that the opposition apparently won in Serbia's capital and 14 other cities. • • The Serbian Supreme Court, which is controlled by President Milosevic, rejected an appeal to reinstate the opposition victory which would have given Milosevic's foes control of Belgrade. • • Workers from trade unions bolstered the demonstrations and declared support for the students. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • \\ Yes we are waiting for the students to join them and we will stay with them during the protest. There are representatives of about 40 factories. Very significant factories in Serbia.\\ • SUPER CAPTION: Protestor, Belgrade Workers' Union • • Factory workers say Milosovic' regime is stripping them of civil liberties. • • SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat) • \\ They have been taking away from us the right to work, the right for a normal life, union freedom and now they have robbed us of the freedom to vote. Finally they have wiped us away as citizens.\\ • SUPER CAPTION: Protestor, Belgrade Workers' Union • • The students resisted calls by the Socialist-controlled students' organisation for the demonstrators to return to their faculties and continue their lessons. • • As the long column of students walked passed the organisation's headquarters they booed and whistled and waved their grade reports. • • Protestors in the upper reaches of buildings overlooking the rally threw confetti and balloons out of the windows and from the roof tops. • • Around 200 independent trade union representatives from across Serbia joined colleagues in the capital. • • Some workers are reported to have gone on strike at factories around the country but union leaders say they are being threatened not to leave their places of work. • • Workers claim those who have made it to the rallies are not wearing their uniforms through fear of being identified. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • \\ Everybody asks us where are the workers? The workers are on the street, but you have understand that, everybody in the world has to understand that our society structure is completely ruined and, therefore, participants, a lot of demonstrators on the street are the workers. But everyone of them, it's very risky if they appear in a worker's suit. • SUPER CAPTION: Rade Radanovic, Belgrade Workers' Union • • With the anti-government protests in their fourth week, the street demonstrations show no sign of abating. • • But with most workers still on the sidelines and courts confirming Milosevic's grip on Belgrade, the opposition faces the tough task of turning the protests into an effective political tool. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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