NIS, (Serbia): Thousands of protesters amassed in the southern Serbian city of Nis on Saturday, in the latest mass student-led anti-corruption rally to rock the Balkan nation after the fatal collapse of a train station last year killed 15 people.
For months, the movement has put increasing pressure on the Serbian government and President Aleskandar Vucic, spurring the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including the prime minister in January.
The collapse of the station roof in Novi Sad in November followed extensive renovations to the building, and ignited long-smoldering anger in the country over corruption and the alleged lack of oversight on construction and development projects.
“I hope for justice,” Emilija Jovanovic, a 21-year-old student, told AFP. From early morning, residents set up improvised stalls across the city’s streets, offering food and refreshments to the crowds streaming through, waving flags, carrying banners against corruption, and blowing whistles and vuvuzelas.
“We expect change,” Aleksandar Arandjelovic, a 34-year-old lawyer from Nis, told AFP. “We admire this incredible energy.”
At 11:52, the time when the tragedy occurred exactly four months ago, everyone gathered in the city’s central square to pay tribute to the victims by standing in silence for 15 minutes.
After that, music echoed through the city as loudspeakers blared chants of “Serbia has risen” and “Pump it” - a slogan symbolizing the students’ resolve to keep protesting.
“What matters to me is that we have all gathered here together for something greater, to support one another and to persevere until the end,” Ivan Macovic, a 21-year-old student from Kragujevac, told AFP.
Ahead of the demonstrations, students and protesters criss-crossed the country in a days-long march to Nis, where they held ad-hoc rallies in small villages along the route. University students have emerged as the leaders of the protest movement and have been blockading campuses across the country for weeks.
President Aleksandar Vucic and other government officials have wafted between issuing calls for talks and also firing off allegations that the demonstrators are being backed by foreign powers.
“A lot of money has been invested in the colour revolution,” Vucic said on Friday while speaking to his supporters in Knjazevac, some 50 kilometres away from Nis.
To quell the protests, the government has sought to meet several of the student organisers’ demands. Those steps have included releasing a raft of documents related to the renovations at the station; pardoning protesters arrested at rallies; boosting funding for higher education; and launching criminal proceedings against suspects accused of attacking demonstrators.
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