"We are showing unity."
This is how a student at the Faculty of Transport and Communications in Belgrade answers a question from Radio Free Europe (RFE) about why students in the blockade insist that their protests have no leaders.
In the interview, he wanted to be introduced only as a student at the Faculty of Transport and Communications, without giving his first and last name.
Because, as he emphasizes, it is the position of the faculty plenum that no individual stands out in relation to the collective.
For more than two months, students have been blocking dozens of faculties across Serbia with the key demand to determine responsibility for the accident in Novi Sad, where 15 people died when a canopy collapsed at the Railway Station.
In recent weeks, they have been leading mass protests in numerous municipalities and cities.
At their call, tens of thousands of citizens take to the streets.
While the government denies responsibility for the accident and claims that the students' demands have been met, the protests and blockades have been supported, among others, by associations of pensioners, farmers, lawyers, the Serbian Medical Association, theater ensembles, and some education unions.
And in calls for protests and official statements, students distance themselves from the activities of political parties, non-governmental organizations, and youth activist groups.
At protests, they recognize state and university flags, while distancing themselves from political symbols.
"It is important to us that student autonomy is maintained at these moments. The students themselves initiated the faculty blockades, and later, in protests, brought the entire country to its feet. It is important to us that our student movement remains autonomous and independent of any factors," explains a student at the Faculty of Transport and Communications.
He adds that there are different political orientations among the students, but that they are united around four demands that have been placed before the institutions of Serbia.
"That's why we don't want what we've achieved to be used for any political purposes or promotions," he concludes.
Anonymity as a form of protection
A student at the Faculty of Transport and Communications in Belgrade points out that their anonymity is a form of protection.
"We want everyone to be safe and not try to remove our blockades by targeting individuals, but rather to act as a mass with a common stance," he adds.
Since the beginning of the blockades, students have been targeted by pro-government tabloids and government representatives.
Without providing evidence, they accused them of being "foreign mercenaries" and that unnamed Western intelligence services were "influencing" the attempted "coup d'état" through them.
Their home addresses and those of their parents were receiving calls from the Security Information Agency for an “informative interview.” Personal information, such as passport extracts, was published in pro-government tabloids for individuals who came forward publicly.
University professors, more than 5.000 of them, stood behind the students.
In the petition, they emphasized that they condemn the authorities' attempts to intimidate them.
Zoran Stojiljković, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, believes that the government has failed in its attempts to delegitimize the student protests.
"Acting without visible leaders is something that such systems and regimes do not have an adequate response to. That has proven to be very effective, because you cannot easily delegitimize them with this or that kind of influence, and on the other hand, it preserves a kind of unity," Stojiljković added to RFE/RL.
Plenum as a place of decision-making
The students in the blockade say that they make decisions at faculty plenums "according to the principle of direct democracy."
As a student at the Faculty of Transport and Communications explains, all students attending that institution have the right to participate in the plenums.
"We want every student, both those who support and those who do not support the blockades, to be able to express their opinion at the plenum and be included in the decision-making process," he adds.
Decisions are made by a majority vote of the students present at the plenum.
The plenum also decides on student appearances in the media and speakers at protests. As a student from the Faculty of Transport and Communications explains, the "rotation principle" is respected, meaning that no student is dominant in public.
"And it is also important to us that the voice of each faculty is heard, that is, that no faculty positions itself as a leader in the blockades. But to show that we are all equal, that we have a common position, that no one has imposed anything on anyone," he concludes.
Professor Zoran Stojiljković says that through such an organization, students have managed to overcome traditional political divisions.
"By making decisions in plenary and communicating with the public with changing representatives, they avoided overgrowing or slowly becoming some kind of leadership movement," he says.
In addition to the faculty meetings, a plenum was also organized at the University level, explains Luka Opruc, a student at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad.
"It is a body consisting of delegates from each faculty in Novi Sad. Each faculty has three delegates, and three observers can also attend. They present the views of their faculty's plenum and vote at the Uniplenum, as we call it. One faculty represents one vote," he adds.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Opruc introduces himself by his first and last name, because the plenum of that faculty allows it.
He adds that, within the faculty, students in the blockade are organized into teams.
"For example, we have a PR team for public relations, a hygiene team, a logistics team for street actions and protests, and the like. Smaller decisions for which the teams have autonomy are of an operational nature, and the majority of decisions are actually passed by the plenum, almost all of them," he lists.
Press releases issued by blocked faculties are being passed by the plenum, emphasizes Luka Opruc from the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad.
Against the cult of personality
A student at the Faculty of Transport and Communications in Belgrade points out that the students "through unity and collective effort have managed to raise up other social groups that are uniting with them in the fight."
"Only in this way can we bring about greater change and show that the cult of personality can be eradicated," he emphasizes.
Students, along with university professors, are rejecting Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's calls for dialogue, emphasizing that the institution he heads is not competent to fulfill their demands.
The first demand of the students in the blockade is to publish complete documentation on the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, in order to determine responsibility for the accident.
They also demand that the attackers of students at the protests that followed the accident in Novi Sad be punished and that proceedings against the arrested protesters be suspended.
Students are also demanding a 20 percent increase in the budget for higher education.
The government claims that all the students' demands have been met, calling on them to open the faculties.
The students respond that the blockades and protests are continuing, and that expert groups will determine whether the demands have been met or not.
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