Mass protests planned as Serbia marks anniversary of train station collapse

Large crowds converge successful Novi Sad to commemorate deadly mishap that has led to predominant wide antigovernment protests.

Tens of thousands of radical are converging connected the bluish Serbian metropolis of Novi Sad for a commemoration of the victims of a calamity a twelvemonth agone that killed 16 people.

Regular student-led protests person gripped Serbia since the illness of the canopy astatine the recently renovated railway presumption successful the country’s 2nd largest metropolis connected November 1, 2024, which became a awesome of entrenched corruption.

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Protesters archetypal demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for aboriginal elections.

Students, who called for the “largest commemorative gathering” connected Saturday, and others, person been pouring into Novi Sad since Friday, arriving by car, bicycle, oregon connected foot.

Thousands marched from Belgrade for immoderate 100km (62 miles) and different parts of the country, including Novi Pazar, astir 340km (210 miles) southbound of the capital. It took them 16 days to decorativeness the march.

Residents of Novi Sad took to the streets to greet the marchers, blowing whistles and waving flags, galore visibly moved.

Flowers are laid nether the names of victims astatine the entranceway of the Novi Sad railway presumption [Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

‘I americium looking for justice’

Dijana Hrka’s 27-year-old lad was among the victims.

“What I privation to cognize is who killed my kid truthful I tin person a small peace, truthful that I don’t support going done hell,” she told Al Jazeera.

Hrka added: “I americium looking for justice. I privation nary different parent to spell done what I americium going through.”

The protests implicit the station’s illness person led to the resignation of the premier minister, the autumn of his authorities and the enactment of a caller one. But nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic has remained defiantly successful office.

Vucic regularly labelled demonstrators arsenic foreign-funded coup plotters, portion members of his SNS enactment pushed conspiracy theories, claiming that the bid presumption extortion illness whitethorn person been an orchestrated attack.

But successful a televised nationalist code connected Friday, Vucic made a uncommon motion and apologised for saying things that, helium said, helium present regretted.

“This applies some to students and to protesters, arsenic good arsenic to others with whom I disagreed. I apologise for that,” Vucic said and called for dialogue.

Saturday’s commemorative rally astatine the Novi Sad railway presumption volition commencement astatine 11:52am (10:52 GMT), the clip erstwhile the calamity occurred, with 16 minutes of soundlessness observed for 16 victims.

Thirteen people, including erstwhile operation curate Goran Vesic, were charged successful a transgression lawsuit implicit the collapse.

A abstracted anticorruption probe continues alongside a European Union-backed probe into the imaginable misuse of EU funds successful the project.

‘Sky high’ corruption

The authorities has declared Saturday a time of nationalist mourning portion the caput of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Patriarch Porfirije, is to service a wide for the victims astatine the Belgrade Saint Sava church.

“On this bittersweet anniversary, we entreaty to everyone … to enactment with restraint, to de-escalate tensions and to debar violence,” the EU delegation successful Serbia said successful a statement.

Aleksandar Popov, a Serbian governmental analyst, told Al Jazeera that “sky-high” corruption is simply a large contented successful the state that needs to beryllium addressed.

“We’re not talking astir tens of millions of euros, but hundreds of millions of euros spun done ample infrastructure projects, possibly billions of euros,” helium said.

“This authorities and the president person captured each cardinal institutions of state, similar the judiciary,” helium added.

The protests person remained mostly peaceful, but, successful mid-August, they degenerated into unit that protesters blamed connected heavy-handed tactics by authorities loyalists and police.