Thousands of protesters in Serbia rally for justice over the Kragujevac railway disaster
Tens of thousands of students protested in Kragujevac on Saturday, demanding justice for the victims of the November 2024 railway disaster, News.Az citing the Jurist.Org.
The protest, which lasted 15 hours and marked the culmination of a four-day student march, was symbolically named “Let’s Meet at Sretenje.” Kragujevac was the first capital of the modern Serbian state, where the Sretenje Constitution was adopted on February 15, 1835.
Despite Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and other cabinet ministers’ resignations, students continued to protest, demanding the publication of documents relating to the November 2024 disaster and a budget increase for higher education.
In a meeting in Sremska Mitrovica, President Aleksandar Vučić, who has been holding counterrallies, said that the student demands were already met, calling the protests a “failed colorful revolution.” Vučić added that there would be no special elections, but at least half of the cabinet ministers would be replaced.
In November 2024, at least 14 people were killed after the roof above the entrance of a recently renovated railway station collapsed in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city. The disaster sparked widespread protests, with accusations of corruption directed at the city mayor and the central government.
Serbia has been facing anti-government protests for the last two years. Last year thousands of demonstrators protested against the potential environmental impact of the Rio Tinto lithium mining project. In December 2023, protesters rallied across the country against the results of the controversial general and local elections of that year.
The current protests mark the most important political deadlock in the country since the demonstrations that saw the electoral defeat, resignation, and arrest of Slobodan Milošević in 2000 and 2001. Similar to Milošević, Vučić’s rule has been marked by accusations of authoritarianism, ties to the criminal underworld, and widespread corruption.
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