A meeting to protest arrest of Slobodan Milosevic is going on in Belgrade

About 3000 supporters of Slobodan Milosevic gathered near the Serbian government building in Belgrade at a meeting to protest the arrest of the former President of Yugoslavia. Manifestation was organized by the Socialist Party of Serbia which is chaired by Milosevic.

The Socialists made a statement which contained the demand to immediately free the ex-President and to stop "artificially created political trial and persecution of the party". According to the Party's assessment, "more policemen were involved last week in Milosevic's arrest procedure than in the struggle against Albanian terrorists in the south of Serbia." In the opinion of supporters of the ex-President, "it a shame for Serbia and Yugoslavia". The meeting participants proclaimed slogans both in support of Milosevic and in condemnation of the new authorities. A lot of placards bear inscriptions: "NATO is killers!", "Fascists, go away". Several dozen policemen are guarding the entrance to the Serbian government building.