Protesters block roads in Serbia to criticize mining plans

Thousands of protesters in Belgrade and other Serbian towns blocked main roads and bridges Saturday to decry a planned lithium mine despite police warnings and an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the demonstrators.

Blowing whistles and chanting "Uprising! Uprising!" protesters stopped traffic on the main highway that goes through the Serbian capital. In the Balkan nation's second-largest city of Nis, the main downtown street was blocked, as was a Danube River bridge in the northern city of Novi Sad.

In Novi Sad, soccer hooligans hurled rocks and bottles at the protesters, who responded by chasing them down. One hooligan was severely beaten. In Belgrade, masked men hurled flares at the protesters.

Uniformed police were not visible during the two-hour protests, which were the most massive demonstrations against the populist government in Serbia in many years.

It was the second such nationwide protest called by environmental groups amid growing public discontent with the autocratic rule of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.