Dozens arrested as 140,000 flood Belgrade in massive anti-government protests
Serbian police cracked down on a sea of demonstrators demanding an early election and an end to the president's 12-year populist rule.
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An estimated 140,000 people surged onto the Serbian capital's streets on Saturday, marking the largest demonstration in recent months. The huge crowd of protesters chanted: "We want elections!"
Led by students, the protests have intensified pressure on President Alexander Vucic's populist government.
Dozens of demonstrators were arrested, and police were seen deploying tear gas and stun grenades.
Organsiers played a statement to the crowd at the conclusion of Saturday's demonstration, encouraging Serbians to "take freedom in to your own hands" and giving them the "green light."
A day earlier, five people were detained and accused of plotting to overthrow the government, according to Serbia's High Court in Belgrade.
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President Vucic accused the protestors of being part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to usurp the country.
"They wanted to topple Serbia, and they have failed," he wrote on his Instagram page.
The police minister condemned alleged violence by the protesters and said those responsible would be arrested.
The protest organisers said in a statement on Instagram after the rally: "The authorities had all the mechanisms and all the time to meet the demands and prevent an escalation."
"Instead, they opted for violence and repression against the people. Any radicalisation of the situation is their responsibility," they warned.
Months of nationwide protests have shaken Mr Vucic's administration.
The president has rejected calls for snap elections. His Serbian Progressive-Party led coalition currently holds 156 of the 250 seats in parliament.
The opposition accuse the president and his allies of corruption, links to organised crime, violence against rivals and curtailing media freedoms, which they deny.
The Serbian president has maintained close ties to Russia and has resisted joining the Western sanctions regime imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Sladjana Lojanovic, 37, a farmer from the town of Sid in the north who joined Saturday's demonstrations, told Reuters: "The institutions have been usurped and... there is a lot of corruption. Elections are the solution, but I don't think he (Vucic) will want to go peacefully."
Protests originally erupted last December after 16 people were killed in the collapse of the Novi Sad railway stations roof. Protesters blame corruption for the tragedy. The disaster led to the resignation of the former prime minister.