(6 Dec 1996) Serbo-Croat/French/Nat
Serbia's information minister resigned Friday to protest media censorship as pressure grew on President Slobodan Milosevic to calm the biggest anti-government protests ever.
The Supreme Court was weighing whether to reinstate an election victory by Milosevic's foes that was earlier annulled by the courts, triggering 18 straight days of protest.
A boisterous crowd of 100-thousand people gathered after dark for what has become the opposition's nightly rally.
It followed a student rally earlier in the day of about 25-thousand students, who jeered at every mention of Milosevic's name.
Voting with their feet once again Friday - tens of thousands Serbians took to the streets of Belgrade for the eighteenth consecutive day of protest against President Slobodan Milosevic's rule.
The mood of opposition leaders was uncompromising.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"He must give back ALL of the election results from the 17th of November"
SUPER CAPTION: Vuk Draskovic, Opposition leader
Information Minister Aleksandar Tijanic has quit the government job he took a year ago.
He was faced with tough criticism for closing two Belgrade independent radio stations.
He says his liberal concept of Serbian journalism clashed with the actual situation.
SOUNDBITE: (Serbian)
"I resign of the position of Minister of Information and I informed the Prime Minister of that. The decision I made 14 days ago but I've been waiting for Mr Bogoljub Karic, the president of our company, to return from business and to inform him first because I left from his company to the ministry position. This gesture is not political, there is no connection between these actual happenings and protests in Serbia, or with appeals and explanations of some people from Terazija Sims.
SUPER CAPTION: Aleksandar Tijanic, Serbian Information Minister
At the evening rally, Serbian opposition leaders vowed to continue their protests until their demands are met by Serbian government authorities.
It's the 18th consecutive day of protests and more than 100-thousand people turned up.
The crowd passed by state-controlled institutions in what appears to have become a ritual and lit candles outside the "Politika" daily building
They then marched on to the main city square and cheered as the opposition leaders addressed them.
The Supreme court is expected to announce on Saturday whether it will reverse it's original ruling validating the second round of the November elections.
The protests however show no signs of losing momentum and the pressure on Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is unrelenting.
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