Protests continue across Serbia today at the call of students in the blockade

Thousands of Serbian citizens, at the call of the students in the blockade, took to the streets to protest in several cities on Saturday, January 25th.

Protests that have been taking place for almost three months are demanding political and criminal responsibility for the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of the canopy of the reconstructed Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1st.

Protests are taking place in Zrenjanin, Mladenovac, Kikinda, Novi Bečej, Kruševac, Vrnjacka Banja, Paraćin, Prijepolje, Ruma, Vršac, Pančevo, Smederevo, Smederevska Palanka, Ćuprija, Sombor, Sokobanja, Velika Plana and other towns and cities.

Several thousand people gathered in the center of Zrenjanin. After the protest walk, they held a 15-minute memorial service for the victims of the accident in Novi Sad at the roundabout in the city center.

The demonstrators carried banners that read "For justice, not for money," "Demands have not been met," and "We will pass this exam too," reports a Radio Free Europe reporter.

The students shouted "They attacked the students!", referring to two attacks on students in recent days in Belgrade.

In two separate incidents, two female students were injured when a car crashed into a group of protesters.

The prosecution charges the drivers of both cars with attempted murder.

These protests come a day after the mass "general strike" action in which, at the call of the students in the blockade, tens of thousands of citizens participated in mass protests across the country.

Protests have been ongoing in Serbia for almost three months, demanding political and criminal accountability from the authorities after the collapse of a canopy at the reconstructed Novi Sad Railway Station, where 1 people were killed and two seriously injured on November 15.

Sanctioning those who attacked protesters is one of the demands of the students, who have been blocking more than 60 state universities for the past two months.

In addition, the students are also demanding that the proceedings against the demonstrators who protested be suspended.

The first on the list of demands is the publication of complete documentation on the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, in order to determine criminal and political responsibility for the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of a canopy.

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

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

They also insist that the documentation about the Railway Station, which was published on the website of the Government of Serbia and the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad, is not complete, which was also pointed out by some of the professional public.

More than 5.000 university professors in Serbia supported the students in the blockade.

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

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

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