Marinika Tepic, a key figure in Serbia’s main opposition party who comes from a Romanian family from Pancevo, vowed on Tuesday to continue her hunger strike, a gesture she is making to protest election fraud despite medical advice. They found his health deteriorating after nine days without food, Reuters reports.

• The head of the opposition in Serbia is a former journalist of Romanian origin.

The opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence, which came second in the general election earlier this month, has accused the ruling populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of widespread electoral fraud, which the authorities deny.

Marinika Tepic, who went on hunger strike with five colleagues after the vote, receives intravenous infusions twice a day because of her deteriorating health, which was revealed on Monday.

In an interview with Reuters, she said she was expecting a team of doctors on Tuesday but intended to reject any medical advice to end her protest. “They will probably ask me to end the hunger strike, but I will ask them to help this struggle continue,” Tepic said. “This is a fight for our freedom,” she said.

Hunger strikers sit in the office of the State Election Commission, a building in the center of Belgrade that once housed the parliament.

Marinika Tepich, in tears

Talking about his own children, Tepik burst into tears. “I tell them that one day they won’t be ashamed,” she said. “We have to provide a better country for our children,” she explains.

Tepic accused the authorities of adding the dead to the voter lists and bringing voters from Bosnia and Kosovo.

“We ask the international mission to check the entire election process,” she said. “We want the elections to be canceled and new ones organized in 5-6 months, but under better conditions,” says Marinika Tepic.

The SNA won 46.72% of the votes in the extraordinary parliamentary elections, according to the preliminary results of the State Election Commission. The opposition Alliance of Serbia Against Violence came in second with 23.56% of the vote, while the Socialist Party of Serbia came in third with 6.56%.

Last Monday, an international election observation mission said the ruling party had gained an unfair advantage due to media bias, undue influence of President Aleksandar Vučić and voting violations such as voter bribery.

Serbia Against Violence organized daily protests in front of the election commission to challenge the election results. On Sunday evening, the protest became violent, the police detained 38 people.

“Complaints of electoral irregularities must be properly investigated and dealt with,” the European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday. “While the right to peaceful demonstration must be respected, violence is not the solution and is unacceptable; police actions must be proportionate and respect fundamental rights within the framework of the rule of law. The EU calls for calm and dialogue,” said Brussels, Serbia is in the process of negotiations on its accession to the European Union.

Marinika Tepich (born Choban) is 49 years old and a former journalist. Tepic was born into a family of ethnic Romanians from Pancevo. In 1995, she graduated from Belgrade University. She first worked as a teacher and then as a journalist at Radio 021, Danas and Libertatea. Tepic entered politics in 2008 and became a prominent figure in the opposition to President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).