On 7 July 2020, a series of protests and riots began over the government announcement of the reimplementation of the curfew and the government's allegedly poor handling of the COVID-19 situation, as well as being a partial continuation of the "One of Five Million" movement. The initial demand of the protesters had been to cancel the planned reintroduction of curfew in Serbia during July, which was successfully achieved in less than 48 hours of the protest. The protesters also demanded a more technical response to the COVID-19 crisis and more factual and constructive information about the ongoing medical situation. Among other causes, the protests were driven by the crisis of democratic institutions under Aleksandar Vučić's rule and the growing concern that the president was concentrating all powers in his hands at the expense of the parliament.Svetski mediji o protestima u Srbiji: Protesti spontani, nedostaju institucije (Serbian) Media and Reform (in Serbian), retrieved 11 July 2020.

Background COVID-19 pandemic mismanagement

On 7 July 2020, the day when protests began, Serbia saw its deadliest day yet during the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia with 13 deaths. President Vučić said that the situation in the capital city was alarming, and announcedthat he was banning gatherings of more than five people and imposing a curfew from Friday 18:00 to Monday 5:00 local time.

The Serbian Government has been accused of hiding true numbers of people infected and deaths from COVID-19. BIRN's research showed that in the period from 19 March to 1 June 2020, a total of 632 people died in Serbia who had tested positive for COVID-19 which is more than twice as many as the officially announced number of 244 deaths in that period. BIRN has learned that by analysing data obtained from the state's COVID-19 information system. The President has been accused of lifting the lockdown too early in order to hold parliamentary elections in which his party won by a landslide.

During this period, large parties, sport events and gatherings happened and greatly increased the number of infected individuals. A big sport event was also held, a football game between Red Star and Partizan with tens of thousands people attending. A leading specialist in the COVID-19 Crisis Team, closely related to the ruling party in money schemes, has said that the sport events were not an epidemiological risk because "tickets were sold online" even though thousands attended without practising social distancing measures or wearing masks. After those events, Danas newspaper called for Serbian Government COVID-19 Crisis Team "to wake up from hibernation" and ban large gatherings. Serbian Government COVID-19 Crisis Team started consideration of reinforcement of COVID-19 measures one day after elections.

Election fraud allegations

The leader of the opposition party Enough is Enough, Saša Radulović, has accused the ruling SNS of election fraud and said that numerous irregularities were recorded. Radulović has said the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) has repeatedly ignored the evidence of irregularities his party submitted and accused them of working in the ruling party's interest.Radulović: Izbori su lažirani, RIK odbio naše prigovore bez ikakve provere (Serbian) N1 26 June 2020

His movement had submitted 2,700 complaints and on 30 June, Radulović told the media the Administrative Court had formally accepted 175 complaints his party had submitted, saying that the voting must, therefore, be repeated in 2700 polling stations which makes one-third of all polling stations. He had accused the Electoral Commission of not observing the proper procedures while counting votes, stating that the ballot box content was not checked and the voting results were determined solely on the basis of ballot paper account forms.Radulović: Upravni sud usvojio 175 žalbi DJB na rezultate izbora N1, 30 June 2020

Radulović has supported the protests and stated that his party's goal is to invalidate the election results and call for fresh elections. He has said that the goal of the protest should be to force the government to organise new elections.Saša Radulović: Zahtev protesta da bude poništavanje falsifikovanih izbora (Serbian) Danas, 11 July 2020

He has submitted pleas to the Constitutional Court of Serbia and has threatened to file a report to the European Court of Human Rights if the Serbian courts don't overthrow the elections. Rule of law and the independence of the judiciary is seriously hindered, as assessed by the European Commission Report for Serbia 2019.

Timeline 7 July 2020 Belgrade Locals, students, and members of the Do not let Belgrade d(r)own gathered in front of the National Assembly and peacefully protested. Many of them wore masks and observed social distancing rules. Just before 20:30, protesters started throwing rocks and bottles at the police, few torches were thrown, as well. Around 22:00, a large group stormed National Assembly building involving nationalists and anti-vaccine campaigner Srđan Nogo. As they entered the building, they shouted "Serbia has risen". Clashes occurred inside the building for 15 minutes. Around 22:15, police managed to completely clear the building but clashes continued outside as police fired tear gas and used batons against protesters. Violent protests continued during the whole night. At least 24 people were injured. The protesters refused to withdraw and police brought in reinforcements during that night, many wearing riot shields, some with service dogs or on horses. The violence lasted until 03:00 in the morning, with police accused of using excessive force towards the protesters. During the live coverage, the regional TV channel N1 captured three police special force units in riot gear hitting three young men who were sitting on a bench with batons.

Kragujevac Protesters peacefully marched through the city; no police were present.

8 July 2020 Belgrade Protesters gathered in the evening on the same place as yesterday, and violence continued between police and protesters. This time, police were reinforced by police cavalry and Gendarmery. During clashes with police, leader of Dveri Boško Obradović, was injured by the police. Who afterward said: "You can fight your people every day, it will be more of us, people won't stand this". He also called for Gendarmery to throw their shields and side with protesters. Sergej Trifunović, leader of the Movement of Free Citizens, tried to join the protests but he was pushed out by protesters and forced to leave. He left after he was attacked by protesters and suffered a blow to the head. Protesters tried to occupy the National Assembly building again but this time were stopped by the Gendarmery and police cavalry. After failing to occupy the National Assembly building, protesters marched through the center of Belgrade, and clashes with police continued. Protesters also set police vehicles on fire.

Novi Sad Thousands of protesters gathered around 18:00 in Novi Sad, where they demanded the resignation of the Serbian Government and president, as well as health officials and other members of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Group. Protesters demolished premises of the Serbian Progressive Party, broke window on RTV premise, and set the entrance to the City Hall on fire. Person who broke the window on RTV premise cut his leg while breaking the window. Protesters also damaged a nearby McDonald's restaurant. Protesters broke windows at the city hall and threw Molotov cocktails and firecrackers through the broken windows. Police arrived on 22:00 when most of the damage was already done and most of the protesters left, the remaining protesters threw cans at police while police fired tear gas.

Niš Protesters gathered at 19:00 and peacefully marched through the city. The protesters threw stones at the local SNS headquarters and tore down SNS posters, and threw eggs at the Vučić election poster.Završeni protesti u Nišu – skandiranje ispred SNS-a, aplauzi medicinarima Južne vesti (in Serbian), retrieved 8 July 2020.

Kragujevac Protests in Kragujevac were peaceful until 22:00 when protesters threw eggs and cans on police, they afterward broke the window of the town hall and threw a torch through the broken window. Police fired tear gas at protesters after this. Soon afterwards most of the protesters left.

Smederevo Protesters peacefully marched through the city and tore down one billboard of Aleksandar Vučić.

9 July 2020 On 9 July, sit-ins were held in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Pančevo, Kragujevac, Smederevo, Kruševac, Čačak, Kraljevo, Vranje, Zrenjanin, Leskovac, Bor and Vršac. Some protesters called for a sit-in and for protesters to wear white t-shirts to represent opposition to recent violence on the protests, this call was accepted by most of the protesters. Protest was also attended by doctors from COVID-19 hospitals who demanded better handling of pandemic.

In Belgrade, thousands protesters sat in front of the National Assembly. At one point during the protest one group of right-wing protesters called others to stand up and fight which caused a minor clash between protesters, no one was injured and protests remained peaceful for the rest of the evening. A gendarmary officer was filmed setting a trash dumpster on fire, something which was heavily blamed on the protesters for "destroying city property". Protest ended around 1 am.

In Vranje, where around 100–120 citizens gathered, protesters tore down all SNS election posters.

10 July 2020 In Belgrade, one protester stabbed another protester with a knife after a verbal confrontation between two groups of protesters. Excluding this incident protest remained peaceful until 9 pm when a group of right-wing protesters tried to break inside a National Assembly using firecrackers, they only managed to shatter glass on the main entrance before police intervened. Protesters clashed with the law enforcement for around 40 minutes, after the clashes ended peaceful protest continued. Around 11 pm clashes again erupted between police and protesters, police was reinforced by the gendarmery. Police and gendarmary fired tear gas and pushed protesters away from the National Assembly in three different directions in order to disperse them, which turned out to be successful. At least 19 people were injured, including both protesters and law enforcement officers, and more than 70 more protesters were arrested, including a protester who stabbed another protester with a knife.

In Novi Sad, protesters blockaded multiple roads in the city. Around 8 pm they marched out of the city and blockaded E75 highway, protests remained peaceful.

In Zrenjanin, protesters blockaded bridge on the main road of the city, protest finished without incidents.

Peaceful protests were also held in Niš, Pirot, Vranje, Kruševac, Leskovac and Čačak.

11 July 2020 Protests in cities across Serbia were peaceful. In Belgrade many protesters paid their respects to Ljubisav Đokić, better known by his nickname "Joe the Bulldozer Driver", who was part of protests in previous days and had died earlier that day. Antonije Davidović, a radical political activist and a former monk who was excommunicated from the Serbian Orthodox Church, made a speech in which he called for protesters to take off their masks, after which many of protesters left. Around 12:30 am, the police violently chased off and arrested several remaining peaceful protesters in front of the National Assembly in Belgrade. The same day in Niš, protesters gave the police a handful of flowers and the Serbian flag. Peaceful protests occurred throughout Serbia.

12 July 2020 Peaceful protest marches were held in Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, and Zrenjanin. Protests were attended by fewer people compared to previous days, police was present but there were no interventions.

Protests by Serbian diaspora started in New York.

13 July 2020