They packed up food, water and extra clothes and set off.
Hundreds of Serbian university students on Thursday started an 80-kilometer (50-mile) march toward the northern city of Novi Sad, the latest endeavor in their over a deadly overhang collapse in November that killed 15 people.
The students started from the capital, Belgrade, and plan to arrive in two days in Novi Sad, where a massive blockade of the city bridges over the Danube is planned for Saturday to mark three months since on the people below on Nov. 1.
What started as a protest against suspected corruption in construction contracts has developed into the most serious challenge in years to the countryB次元官网网址檚 powerful populist leader, President Aleksandar Vucic.
Students were greeted along the way by cheering citizens, honking their car horns or coming out of their homes with offers of refreshments, fruit or pancakes.
The march illustrates the determination of SerbiaB次元官网网址檚 striking university students, who have been camping at their faculties for the past two months while organizing daily protests, some drawing tens of thousands of people for the largest street gatherings in years in the Balkan country.
B次元官网网址淭his march is our way of showing support for our colleagues from Novi Sad.B次元官网网址� said Tatjana Gogic, a biology student. B次元官网网址淲e want also to show how persistent we are and that we do not plan to stop any time soon unless our demands are fulfilled.B次元官网网址�
Vasilije Milanovic, a student at BelgradeB次元官网网址檚 technical engineering faculty, added that B次元官网网址渨e are asking for justice and freedom of thought.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e are not stopping this and we are going to pursue this to the end,B次元官网网址� Milanovic said.
Weeks-long demonstrations have already forced this week, along with various concessions from the authorities unused to making them.
The protests also reflect wider popular discontent in Serbia with The president and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have imposed a firm grip on all state institutions and mainstream media while facing accusations of stifling democratic freedoms, despite promises to .
Many in Serbia believe that the collapse of the overhang at the train station was essentially caused by in a large infrastructure project with Chinese state companies. Graft, critics believe, has led to a sloppy job during poor oversight and disrespect of existing safety regulations.
B次元官网网址淲e must no longer allow such a chaos in our society, such despotism that one man is making all the decisions,B次元官网网址� said Dusan Pavlovic, who graduated in acting from BelgradeB次元官网网址檚 drama academy. B次元官网网址淭hat was not what we agreed. That is not the way the state should function.B次元官网网址�
While protests over the Novi Sad train station crash started directly after Nov. 1, they only gained momentum two months ago when students joined in, , including doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors and teachers, farmers and judges.
The immediate cause for the student strike was an attack on the drama students on Jan. 24 by during a daily 15-minute commemoration for the victims of the overhang collapse. A call for the perpetrators to be punished soon spread to all universities in Serbia and further throughout society.
The students succeeded where previous waves of protesters had failed, said Aleksandar Baucal, psychology professor at BelgradeB次元官网网址檚 Faculty of Philosophy. B次元官网网址淣o one else would have been able to gain trust of such a wide circle of people,B次元官网网址� he said.
their empathy for the victims, along with resilience and readiness for sacrifice to achieve justice, struck a chord in a nation used to perpetual crisis where previous protests have fizzled out largely without results, Baucal said.
Other student demands also included the publication of full documentation related to the train station reconstruction project, punishment for the attackers on protesters and withdrawal of existing legal procedures against people and student protesters. The students have rejected VucicB次元官网网址檚 offer of talks, telling him that there is nothing to negotiate but that state institutions should simply do their job.
B次元官网网址淲e could all easily identify because we have all experienced many times in our lives that the laws have not been respected and that it was our loss,B次元官网网址� said Baucal. B次元官网网址淧eople trust the students when they have lost trust in everyone else.B次元官网网址�
When faced with protests in previous years of his decade-long rule in Serbia, and stay firmly in power without backing down. The government fall earlier this week is seen as an attempt by Vucic to push the crisis into the political arena and move the focus off the students.
From to oust him, Vucic has shifted to offering concessions or issuing veiled threats. Pro-government thugs have repeatedly attacked the students, twice ramming cars into protests. A female student was beaten with baseball bats this week, but the protesters are undeterred.
Well-organized and creative, students also have sparked widespread solidarity, with people bringing in cooked food and donations. The movement has no leaders, and the media are not allowed inside the blockaded faculty buildings. All the decisions are taken in so-called B次元官网网址減lenary sessionsB次元官网网址� where students vote on any proposals or decisions.
The studentsB次元官网网址� strength and determination have caught many by surprise in a country where hundreds of thousands of young people have emigrated, looking for opportunities elsewhere.
B次元官网网址淭hey showed us all that they are very much interested in the world around them,B次元官网网址� said Baucal. B次元官网网址淭hey rightfully had waited first for the older generations, who created social problems, to solve them so they (students) wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have to. All they wanted from us was to respect the laws we set up ourselves.B次元官网网址�
