College students march in Serbia, searching for justice for prepare station victims and accountability for corruption and nepotism.
Tens of 1000’s of scholars have descended in town of Kragujevac in central Serbia, the most recent in a sequence of protests to rock the Balkan nation after the lethal collapse of a prepare station roof final yr.
Fifteen individuals had been killed had been killed on November 1 when a roof collapsed at a prepare 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 foremost boulevards for 15 hours and quarter-hour, in a tribute to the prepare station victims. Additionally they held quarter-hour of silence.
“We’re right here to battle for a greater tomorrow, in opposition to corruption,” mentioned 20-year-old Jovan, who drove from the capital Belgrade.
Scholar protestors have loved broad assist 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 town, joined the protest along with her teenage daughter.
“I’ve not been so pleased and proud for a very long time,” she mentioned. “I’m happy 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 individuals have been charged over the prepare station catastrophe. However this has completed little to quell the demonstrations.
Because the accident, college students have staged every day protests, taking on college buildings and blocking highways and squares.
![Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest over the fatal November 2024 Novi Sad railway station roof collapse, in Kragujevac, Serbia February 15, 2025. [Marko Djurica/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-02-15T124142Z_231744033_RC2XUCA0NCYF_RTRMADP_3_SERBIA-PROTESTS-1739630482.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
“We’ll keep right here till the blockade ends,” mentioned Djordje Vujovic, 22, a mechanical engineering pupil.
The scholars are demanding that authorities publish paperwork regarding the station roof collapse. Additionally they need justice for these accountable, the dismissal of fees in opposition to protesting college students, and a larger price range for larger training.
Ivan and Ivana, 23-year-old arithmetic college students, had been amongst a gaggle of about 400 individuals who had walked for 4 days to achieve Kragujevac from Belgrade.
“We wished to point out the individuals residing within the nation that we assist them,” Ivan mentioned. “We don’t assume solely concerning the individuals in Belgrade.”
