Protests over practice station collapse grip Serbia, demand authorities motion

College students march in Serbia, searching for justice for practice station victims and accountability for corruption and nepotism.

Tens of 1000’s of scholars have descended in town of Kragujevac in central Serbia, the newest in a sequence of protests to rock the Balkan nation after the lethal collapse of a practice station roof final yr.

Fifteen folks had been killed had been killed on November 1 when a roof collapsed at a practice station within the metropolis of Novi Unhappy, fuelling longstanding anger over corruption and nepotism.

Since then, mass demonstrations have grown into Serbia’s largest protest motion in years and characterize a menace to populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s decade-long grip on energy.

In near-freezing temperatures, college students arrived in Kragujevac from throughout Serbia by bus and even on foot, beating drums, blowing whistles, and holding up the nation’s flag.

The protesters deliberate to dam one of many metropolis’s fundamental boulevards for 15 hours and quarter-hour, in a tribute to the practice station victims. Additionally they held quarter-hour of silence.

“We’re right here to struggle for a greater tomorrow, in opposition to corruption,” mentioned 20-year-old Jovan, who drove from the capital Belgrade.

Scholar protestors have loved broad help from Serbia’s public, lots of whom blame the Novi Unhappy tragedy on corruption and nepotism inside Vucic’s authorities, allegations authorities deny.

Verica, a 52-year-old professor from the town, joined the protest along with her teenage daughter.

“I’ve not been so comfortable and proud for a very long time,” she mentioned. “I’m pleased with their persistence.”

College students demand change

The college student-led motion has put growing stress on Serbia’s authorities, spurring the resignation of a number of high-ranking officers, together with Prime Minister Milos Vucevic on the finish of January.

Elsewhere, 13 folks have been charged over the practice station catastrophe. However this has performed little to quell the demonstrations.

For the reason that accident, college students have staged each day protests, taking up college buildings and blocking highways and squares.

“We are going to keep right here till the blockade ends,” mentioned Djordje Vujovic, 22, a mechanical engineering pupil.

The scholars are demanding that authorities publish paperwork referring to the station roof collapse. Additionally they need justice for these accountable, the dismissal of expenses in opposition to protesting college students, and a higher finances for greater schooling.

Ivan and Ivana, 23-year-old arithmetic college students, had been amongst a bunch of about 400 individuals who had walked for 4 days to succeed in Kragujevac from Belgrade.

“We wished to indicate the folks residing within the nation that we help them,” Ivan mentioned. “We don’t assume solely concerning the folks in Belgrade.”