BELGRADE, Serbia — As a substitute of the standard boisterous avenue partying on New 12 months’s Eve, tens of 1000’s of protesters led by college college students gathered in a single day in Belgrade and different Serbian cities to demand political reforms and justice within the Balkan nation.
The protesters have been actively demonstrating following the tragic collapse of a concrete cover within the northern metropolis of Novi Unhappy’s central prepare station on Nov. 1, which resulted in 15 fatalities.
The tragedy has been attributed to corruption and substandard building practices by the populist Serbian management, resulting in a widespread public outcry and calls for for accountability.
College students from varied Belgrade universities have organized the protest below the slogan “There is No New Year — You Still Owe Us for the Old One.”
The loud crowd, chanting “We Want Justice,” went silent at 11:52 p.m. with quarter-hour to honor the victims of the Novi Unhappy tragedy. Many had been holding banners with a crimson handprint, which has develop into an emblem of the antigovernment protests, telling the authorities that they’ve blood on their palms.
Earlier, they marched previous a state-sponsored live performance the place the gang danced to folks music tunes. Police guarded the realm the place the live performance was going down and arrange metallic fences whereas directing the protesting crowd to different streets close by to keep away from contact between the 2 teams.
The antigovernment protesters emphasised that, regardless of the festive season, their dedication to searching for justice stays unwavering. The scholar-led motion has garnered assist from varied societal teams, together with professors, farmers and actors, reflecting broader discontent with autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic’s management.
1000’s of individuals additionally gathered in Novi Unhappy and the southern metropolis of Nis for parallel gatherings additionally led by college college students in these cities.
In Belgrade, state-sponsored concert events and different New 12 months celebrations had been organized within the metropolis middle and in a newly constructed high-rise Belgrade Waterfront neighborhood, which Vucic has claimed is his personal mission along with the United Arab Emirates traders.
Belgrade has develop into a favourite partying vacation spot for vacationer on the New 12 months’s Eve celebrations with avenue partying and large fireworks.
The crowds in Belgrade braved very chilly climate and fog to hitch the scholars. The New 12 months’s Eve protest comes simply over every week after tens of 1000’s rallied along with the scholars in what was one of many largest gatherings in recent times within the Serbian capital.
Serbia’s public prosecutor on Monday indicted 13 individuals, together with a former minister, over the collapse of the concrete cover. The protesters say that isn’t sufficient because the indictment doesn’t embrace prices of potential corrupt offers throughout a renovation of the the Novi Unhappy prepare station that was a part of a wider take care of Chinese language firms.
Vucic earlier informed pro-government Prva TV that every one scholar calls for have been fulfilled.
“I have always been ready to talk, I am asking them now but they won’t talk to me, they have no arguments, the prosecutors fulfilled the last of their demands, all documents they wanted have been published and nothing happened,” Vucic mentioned, including he received’t be toppled by avenue protests.