Another 15-minute silence for the dead in Novi Sad

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

Students who have been blocking dozens of faculties in Serbia since the end of November 2024 held another fifteen-minute action today in memory of the 15 killed in the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad.

In Belgrade, academics gathered, among other things, in front of the Faculty of Law on Bulevar kralja Aleksandra, where they were joined by some citizens.

The gathering carried banners with messages such as "Machinists against machinery" and "How reliable is this system".

In addition to the capital, gatherings were also held in Niš and Kragujevac.

For more than two months, blockades and protests have been ongoing in Serbia, with citizens, students and part of the opposition demanding political and criminal responsibility for the collapse of the canopy of the Novi Sad Railway Station on November 1, when 15 people died and two were seriously injured.

More than 60 faculties at four state universities have been blocked, in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac.

The students on the blockade are demanding the publication of complete documentation on the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, after which the canopy collapsed.

Among the demands are the dismissal of the charges against those arrested and detained during the protests demanding the prosecution of those responsible for the tragedy in Novi Sad, as well as the immediate prosecution of people who beat students and professors during the protests.

Government representatives claim that all demands have been met and are calling on students to reopen the faculties.

Academics, on the other hand, say that the demands have been partially met and that the suspension of work at the faculties will continue until further notice.

More than 3,500 university professors in Serbia have supported the students on the blockade. They condemned the authorities' attempts to intimidate students, as they stated, by publicly sharing their private data, spreading falsehoods about them, and sending police officers and agents of the Security Information Agency to their and their parents' addresses.

The concrete canopy of the station building in Novi Sad collapsed just a few months after the station's grand opening - after a three-year reconstruction and officials' claims that it was built to the highest European standards.

The Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad filed an indictment against 13 people on December 30 in connection with the canopy collapse in that city.

The defendants include former Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić and his assistant Anita Dimoski, as well as former director of the public company "Infrastrukture Željeznice Srbije" Jelena Tanasković.

10 defendants are in custody, Vesić is at large, while Tanasković and Dimoski are under house arrest.