BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — As a substitute of the normal boisterous avenue partying on New Yr’s Eve, tens of hundreds of protesters led by university students gathered overnight 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 demands for accountability.
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College students from varied Belgrade universities have organized the protest beneath the slogan “There may be No New Yr — You Nonetheless Owe Us for the Previous 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 purple handprint, which has turn into an emblem of the antigovernment protests, telling the authorities that they’ve blood on their arms.
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 steel 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 help from varied societal teams, together with professors, farmers and actors, reflecting broader discontent with autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic’s leadership.
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 Yr 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 turn into a favourite partying vacation spot for vacationer on the New Yr’s Eve celebrations with avenue partying and big fireworks.
The crowds in Belgrade braved very chilly climate and fog to affix the scholars. The New Yr’s Eve protest comes simply over per week after tens of hundreds rallied along with the scholars in what was one of many greatest gatherings lately within the Serbian capital.
Serbia’s public prosecutor on Monday indicted 13 people, including a former minister, over the collapse of the concrete canopy. The protesters say that’s not sufficient because the indictment doesn’t embody expenses of doable 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 advised pro-government Prva TV that every one pupil calls for have been fulfilled.
“I’ve at all times been prepared to speak, I’m asking them now however they gained’t speak to me, they don’t have any arguments, the prosecutors fulfilled the final of their calls for, all paperwork they needed have been revealed and nothing occurred,” Vucic stated, including he will not be toppled by avenue protests.
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Related Press author Jovana Gec contributed to this report.
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