Detentions, resignations, probes shake Serbia after students toppled strongman Vucic in election

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Detentions, resignations, switching of sides, attempts to destroy evidence of wrongdoing.

News has been coming in at such a pace in the wake of former Serbian strongman Aleksandar Vucic's electoral defeat on Oct. 25 that a website dubbed ‘system breakdown’ has been formed, with AI feeding the information in real time.

From high school students catching their principal supposedly trying to destroy documentation to the closure of a bank believed linked to the now-ousted Serbian Progressive Party, the turn of events has gripped Serbia's public in the post-election week.

Somewhat chaotic reports are seen as a sign that Vucic's carefully crafted power system is collapsing swiftly following the stunning victory of a student movement at the early parliamentary ballot.

The Students' List winners are yet to formally take over power in the government administration, security agencies and the army. But the seismic shift in the balance of power is pushing events to unfold before the actual takeover takes place.

Despite the electoral defeat, a defiant Vucic — now described as the leader of opposition — has continued with his daily appearances on loyal media, accusing the student-led movement of “revolutionary terror” and vowing to fight back.

On Sunday evening, Vucic told Pink television that “naturally, this is hard for my family and those who love me, but I am ready for everything and I will persist through anything.” Denying crime links, Vucic said he is not afraid of possible arrest because there will be no evidence against him.

“I don’t sign anything ... and nothing will be found,” he said. “They don’t have anything.”

Jailed officials so far include Vucic’s chief of criminal police, Marko Kricak, and another senior police official, both suspected of abuse of office in connection with a high-profile murder investigation.

Kricak was notorious over accusations that he personally threatened a female student with rape during anti-government protests, but he was not jailed over those allegations.

On Monday, authorities also detained Davor Macura, the owner of private Alta Bank, which is believed to be linked to Vucic’s SNS party and whose license has been revoked. Macura was allegedly caught trying to siphon away millions of dollars and faces charges of abuse of office.

While waiting to form the new government, the election winners have called on prosecutors and judges to start doing their jobs or step down.

Scores of investigations into alleged top-level corruption cases remained incomplete under the previous government, including one into a Nov. 1, 2024, train station tragedy that triggered two years of anti-graft protests.

Now, the Serbian public is waiting to hear what will come out of a review into some of the longstanding probes after the student movement promised there will no longer be untouchable officials.

Prosecutors have been swamped with new complaints over incidents that vary from suspected election fraud to threats and violence against protesters, journalists and activists. Organized crime prosecutors also initiated procedures to determine whether some of them had been placed under illegal surveillance by the state security agency.

On Monday, lawyer Ivan Ninic alleged a “criminal conspiracy” involving a justice ministry official and over three dozen prison wardens across Serbia, saying they pressured or bribed inmates to vote for Vucic during last week's ballot.

Ninic presented what he said were screenshots of online chats, with officials exchanging information about how many votes they managed to gather — Vucic's SNS won overwhelmingly in Serbia's prisons.

In Mali Zvornik, on the border with Bosnia, police detained six people accused of granting false residence papers to Bosnian citizens so they could vote for Vucic's party at the election.

Some of the mainstream media in Serbia that were at the forefront of Vucic's propaganda machinery have been the first to regroup.

Previously staunchly pro-Vucic media outlets quickly adopted a more neutral position, while some television channels canceled programs altogether and owners reportedly fled the country. State RTS television overhauled leadership and apologized to its viewers for biased reporting.

But some of Vucic's main mouthpieces, like the Informer and Pink broadcasters, remain loyal, hosting the former leader daily in their programs.

The election was for Serbia's 250-member parliament and did not include local governments across the country. Now, calls are mounting for early municipal elections.

Vucic's SNS lost in the capital, Belgrade, and most other towns, after it previously controlled the country down to every village, with the exception of one urban municipality in the southern city of Nis.

Throughout Serbia, employees in theaters, museums, culture associations, schools and hospitals are demanding that SNS-appointed managers immediately step down.

In Belgrade, Fifth High School principal Ognjen Mrvaljevic denied that he was throwing away relevant school documentation. His students pulled it out of garbage bins after calling the police.

Vucic's party's "expiration date has passed,” analyst Slobodan Stupar said. “It will all fall like dominoes.”

A defaced poster of Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), lies on the pavement outside the National Assembly, after he conceded defeat in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People celebrate the night after the student-led opposition movement won the parliamentary election and defeated Aleksandar Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), in Belgrade, Serbia, late Monday, Oct. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)

People celebrate after Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) conceded defeat in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

A client reads a posted sign in front of closed Alta Bank, after Serbia's Central Bank revoked Alta Bank's operating license and launched bankruptcy proceedings to protect the bank's depositors in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Aleksandar Vucic, leader of the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) leaves after casting his vote in a parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A showdown in Texas between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, one of the marquee U.S. Senate races of the midterms, had Democrats pushing to break a 30-year losing streak in the state on Tuesday and Republicans scrambling to defend both a pivotal stronghold and an increasingly fragile Senate majority.

The campaign has tested voters’ tolerance for past scandals that have shadowed Paxton, Texas' Republican attorney general, and whether Talarico's religion-infused populist message can blaze a path to victory for Democrats in a state that President Donald Trump easily carried two years ago.

Texas has not elected a Democrat to a statewide office since 1994, but a unique cascade of events set the stage for one of the nation's most heated and expensive campaigns, and Republicans fear they could lose.

Paxton defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a combative primary with the help of a late endorsement from Trump, even though Senate Republican leaders feared that Paxton would be far more vulnerable because of his years of legal troubles including accusations of corruption.

At the same time, voters have become increasingly frustrated over high costs — for gas, groceries, healthcare and more — and the war with Iran, sapping Trump's and Republicans' popularity.

Talarico centered his campaign on portraying Paxton as the face of a corrupt political system that allows billionaires to wield outsized political power while prices rise for the rest of the country. He also tried to woo moderate Republicans and independents put off by Paxton.

Paxton pinned his hopes on firing up Republican voters, who have historically outnumbered Democrats in Texas, to turn out at the polls. He campaigned with Trump several times, and the president amplified Paxton's attack that Talarico is too progressive for the Lone Star State because of past statements including that God is “nonbinary.”

The political climate was already favorable for Democrats from coast to coast this year, with many people upset with Trump on issues such as the war in Iran and the soaring costs of living.

Paxton was further weighed down by a string of legal and ethical problems, including being impeached in 2023 and then acquitted by his own party on corruption accusations, along with a federal corruption investigation that was closed with no charges. During the impeachment trial, there were allegations of marital infidelity, and his wife is now divorcing him on “biblical grounds.”

Talarico hammered Paxton on those ethical questions in an attempt to win over Republican and independent voters. But Talarico rarely maligned the Republican Party. The issue is less a question of right versus left, he often said, and more about the uber-rich versus everyone else.

Talarico's argument was supercharged after Elon Musk, the world's richest man and Texas resident, became a major donor in the race. Musk contributed a total of $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the same amount that the fund then gave to Texas PAC, the largest contributor to Paxton’s campaign. Musk also gave $10 million to the Paxton-supporting Lone Star Liberty PAC.

While the investment helped blanket the state in anti-Talarico ads, the Democrat started naming Musk's donation in his stump speech as the epitome of the moneyed influence that he says has corrupted politics.

While Paxton discussed rising costs, he focused more on framing Talarico as too far-left for Texas.

Paxton, considered a culture war pugilist in some conservative circles, pointed to the Democrat naming his favorite drag queen in Texas and previously stating there were six sexes.

Talarico has worked to moderate his past statements on gender questions, calling them “cringey.” He said he opposes transgender athletes playing women’s sports if it “endangers safety or fairness.”

He often took a pastoral approach with voters, presenting himself as an earnest listener to their concerns and pledging to salve them if elected.

Culture war issues have helped propel Paxton to prominence as a state attorney general eager to use his position for partisan aims, including leading a failed lawsuit that sought to overturn the 2020 election after Trump claimed without evidence that it was stolen.

FILE - At left, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in McKinney, Texas, May 19, 2026, and at right, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, after voting, in Austin, Texas, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero and Eric Gay,File)