Tens of thousands march in Novi Sad, blocking roads and bridges in protest against government corruption.
Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Serbia to mark three months since the deadly collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad prompted an anticorruption movement.
Tens of thousands marched through the northern Serbian city on Saturday, waving flags and signs while blocking roads and occupying the city’s three main bridges.
“There is no turning back, no fear, and we will not give up,” Jelena Vuksanovic, a philosophy student, told the AFP news agency.
University students have emerged as the leaders of the protest movement and have been blockading campuses across the country since the roof cave-in that killed 15 people on November 1.
Many in Serbia believe that the collapse was caused by government corruption in a large infrastructure project with Chinese state companies, but the issue has come to symbolise a wider discontent over the rule of law in Serbia.
“These protests have been peaceful and led by students. But they have united people across the political divide,” Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego said while reporting on the ongoing protests.
“People have come from all across the country. They have walked, cycled to Novi Sad in a show of strength.”
The demonstrations have put increasing pressure on the government, spurring the resignation of several high-ranking officials, including that of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic.
Vucevic’s resignation on Tuesday came after a 24-hour blockade at a major traffic intersection in the capital Belgrade. Days before, a general strike saw schools and small businesses close across the country.
The prime minister, who was mayor of Novi Sad in 2022 when the reconstruction of the station was launched by a Chinese firm, said at a news conference on Tuesday that he had decided to step down to reduce tensions.
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