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Youth are marching from Belgrade to articulation a rally successful the country’s northbound aft months of sustained protests.
Published On 31 Oct 2025
Thousands of Serbian younker are marching crossed the state earlier a wide rally successful the bluish municipality of Novi Sad, marking the archetypal day of a bid presumption illness that prompted the country’s biggest antigovernment protestation question successful decades.
The roof failure connected November 1 past twelvemonth killed 16 people, including 4 children, and led to ongoing calls to region the right-wing populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Protesters person blamed deep-seated authorities corruption and demanded drawback elections, which Vucic has ignored.
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In the superior of Belgrade connected Thursday, assemblage students waved flags arsenic they started the 90km (56-mile) march to Novi Sad, wherever they are expected to articulation tens of thousands of different protesters connected Saturday.
Others person been marching for weeks, including from the southwestern municipality of Novi Pazar, much than 300km (185 miles) from Novi Sad, reported Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic.
“The main crushed we decided to bash the locomotion is the 16 victims, and the information that adjacent aft 1 year, nary 1 has been held liable for their deaths,” Emina Spahic, 1 of the Novi Pazar students, told Al Jazeera.
Enes Dzogovic, different student, said radical successful adjacent “the astir distant places” had aided the students with “whatever we need” on the road.
“They’re ever determination to assistance us,” helium said.
Protesters clash with Serbian riot constabulary arsenic tens of thousands of protesters stitchery successful cardinal Belgrade connected June 28, 2025 [Oliver Bunic/AFP]Escalating protests
What started arsenic an outcry against the bid illness has since morphed into wider discontent with Vucic’s government.
Prosecutors yet charged 13 people, including a erstwhile transport minister, implicit the tragedy. But the charges necessitate support from a higher court, and nary proceedings day has been set.
Government officials person denied accusations of corruption and inadequate oversight.
In caller months, protesters person faced an progressively convulsive constabulary response, prompting the Council of Europe and different watchdogs to explicit interest implicit authorities’ excessive usage of force.
At a Pride rally successful September, constabulary wielded teardrop state and stun grenades, with students accusing them of launching “brutal attacks connected their ain citizens”.
Nikolina Sindjelic, a pupil who was arrested during protests successful August, said astatine different rally that constabulary bushed her erstwhile she was detained.
“They person deed america and they volition deed america due to the fact that they cognize it is each implicit [for them],” Sindjelic told the crowd.
Over the past month, astir 1,000 protesters person been arrested, Al Jazeera’s Veselinovic reported.
Vucic, who has held bureau since 2017, has falsely claimed that overseas information services are down antigovernment protesters, arsenic helium defended constabulary actions.
“We are not going to let demolition of the authorities institutions,” Vucic said past month. “Serbia is simply a beardown and liable state.”
Critics impeach Vucic of being progressively authoritarian since coming to power, archetypal arsenic premier curate successful 2014 and past arsenic president since 2017. Serbians person a past of uprooting strongman leaders; they removed Slobodan Milosevic 25 years agone aft bloody protests.
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