"A student-led movement organised the rallies in the country's second largest city, Novi Sad, where on 1 November 2024, the canopy at the newly renovated railway station collapsed. Saturday's commemorative rally started at 11:52am, the exact time when the roof fell, with 16 minutes of silence observed for the 16 people who died. People placed flowers and candles along temporary fencing near the damaged station entrance, as thousands more packed into the square."
"The disaster inspired Serbia's largest youth-led movement since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, a hardline leader who died in 2006 of a heart attack while he was being tried on 66 counts of crimes against humanity, including genocide. Protesters had initially demanded a transparent investigation into the disaster, but their calls soon escalated into criticism of corruption and nepotism, as well as calls for early parliamentary elections, which are due in 2027."
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Novi Sad to mark the anniversary of the railway station canopy collapse on 1 November 2024. The commemorative rally began at 11:52am, the exact time of the collapse, and observed 16 minutes of silence for the 16 victims. Students organised the demonstrations, which evolved into Serbia's largest youth-led movement since the 2000s, demanding a transparent investigation and condemning corruption and nepotism. Some protesters marched 340 km from Novi Pazar in a symbolic 16-day journey. The movement forced the January resignation of former prime minister Milos Vucevic, while President Aleksandar Vucic remained defiant and accused demonstrators of being western-backed terrorists.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]