page_title: 1991 protests in Belgrade
section_title: March 9
hierarchical_section_title: 1991 protests in Belgrade / Protest / March 9
caption_attribution_description: English: Borislav Pekic in great demonstrations in Belgrade on March 9th 1991
context_page_description: The 1991 protests in Belgrade happened on the streets of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and Yugoslavia when a protest rally turned into a riot featuring vicious clashes between the protesters and police.
  The initial mass rally that took place on 9 March 1991 was organized by Vuk Drašković's Serbian Renewal Movement, an opposition political party in Serbia, protesting the rule of Slobodan Milošević and his Socialist Party of Serbia, particularly their misuse of Radio Television Belgrade. Two people died in the ensuing violence, and the government then ordered the Yugoslav People's Army onto the city streets. The police detained several prominent SPO officials and banned two media outlets considered unfriendly to the government. The protests are referred to in Serbian as Devetomartovski protest, i.e. the March 9 protest, after this initial event.
  The next day, in reaction to the events of the previous day, more protests drew large and diverse crowds, including leaders of the Democratic Party, with some referring to it as a "Velvet Revolution". The next day still, the government supporters responded by organizing a counter-rally of their own.
context_section_description: March 9, 1991 was a pleasant, partly sunny, slightly windy Saturday in late winter. The protest was scheduled to take place at the Republic Square in Belgrade, a wide open area right in the city's downtown core. In the early morning, the square was already filled with a substantial crowd. The police presence was also heavy. Just after 10 a.m. the police (consisting of members from all over Serbia as well as the police reserve members) established control over most streets in the city centre and blocked major roads heading into Belgrade.
  This led to numerous incidents throughout different parts of the city centre before the protest rally even started as the police tried, often brutally, to impede the stream of people heading to the square. Soon after, the battles started at the square itself as the police started using armoured vehicles, water cannons, and tear gas in an attempt to drive the protesters out of the square. Enraged protesters immediately began responding, some of them armed with sticks, traffic sign poles, crowbars or whatever else they could get their hands on. The crowd from the adjoining streets jeered the police, chanting angrily at them to "go to Pakrac" or to "go to Kosovo". Some of the others from the crowd that managed to get into the square made allusions to the Romanian Revolution of 1989 chanting "alea alea Securitatea" while calling Milošević a fascist.
  While battles and skirmishes were already taking place for more than an hour, mass bedlam started around 11:30 a.m. when a large crowd of protesters held in check up to that point near the Ruski car restaurant managed to break through the police cordon. Yelling "Ustaše, Ustaše" at the police, the protesters started moving further into the square near the monument while the police tried unsuccessfully to stop them with a water cannon.
  Simultaneously, the scheduled speakers, including Drašković, had trouble making it into the square. Along with his entourage consisting of some 200 SPO members, a little after 11:30 a.m. Drašković was being held at the intersection of November 29 Street and Vašingtonova Street, surrounded by the police cordon that didn't want to let them join the protesters at the Republic Square. He tried to reason with them, appealing with their chiefs to let him into the square "in order to calm the crowd and prevent bloodshed". Some 15 minutes later, the police let them through without much resistance.
  Getting into the square, the impressive crowd size probably surprised even Drašković himself as the entire area was literally flooded with people. Flanked by the individuals loyal to him (including several prominent members of the Belgrade underworld such as Đorđe "Giška" Božović and Aleksandar "Knele" Knežević who essentially acted as his bodyguards), Drašković climbed the Prince Mihailo Monument and attempted to address the large crowd using a megaphone.
  Estimates on the number of people in the crowd vary: under 70,000, around 100,000, or in excess of 150,000.
  Realizing very few could hear him, Drašković then decided to seek permission from nearby National Theater personnel to address the crowds from its balcony, which provided a nice view of the entire square.
  Permission was granted by then-director Vida Ognjenović (incidentally a prominent DS member), so Drašković took to the balcony and began a fiery speech often interrupted by thunderous applause:
  Serbia, may God give us the dawn of freedom in our homeland as well.
  I'm not going to tell you everything that has happened since this morning; we all broke through different police barriers and therein showed that no obstacle will stop us.
  I salute you, heroes!
  I said it a month ago – even when the Bolsheviks didn't believe me – and I'll say it again right this moment: today, in front of our righteous Prince [referring to the statue of Prince Mihailo Obrenović that dominates the square, and especially in a few moments when we start marching on TV Bastille, we will show Serbian heart and we will show Serbian persistence.
  Unfortunately, we have no other way!
  Heroes, I remind you of th
caption: Renowned Serbian writer Borislav Pekić was one of many well-known Serbs at the protest
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