BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of people in Serbia on Thursday marked six months since a train station tragedy in the country’s north killed 16 people and triggered a wave of anti-corruption protests that have shaken populist President Aleksandar Vucic’s tight grip on power.
Workers’ unions joined university students in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, to demand changes in labor and strike laws as part of Labor Day protests. In the northern city of Novi Sad, residents left flowers and lit candles outside the central station where tons of concrete crashed on the people standing or sitting underneath on Nov. 1.
Many in Serbia blamed alleged rampant government corruption fueling negligence and disrespect of safety regulations for the tragedy. The concrete canopy at the outer wall of the building had been renovated twice before the disaster as part of a major infrastructure deal with Chinese state companies.
Almost daily protests since the crash have developed into a nationwide movement demanding changes.
Thousands marched in Novi Sad on Thursday after holding a commemorative silence for the victims near the station. University students, a key force behind the anti-graft movement, set up a stone monument with an inscription saying: “Novi Sad remembers.”
“Today, we declared the train station building for a memorial site,” a student told the crowd. “It will serve as a reminder what happens when corruption takes over the state.”
In Belgrade, union flags mixed with student banners outside the Serbian government building in a downtown area as thousands streamed in from various parts of the city for the gathering.
“Corruption kills!” said one student, who did not say his name. “This is why the fight against corruption must be held not only at (student) blockades but also at work place.”
Populist supporters of President Vucic meanwhile enjoyed a May Day barbecue, drinks and folk music in a pro-government camp outside the parliament building and in an adjacent park by the presidential palace. The guarded camp, set up weeks ago, also hosted masked ex-paramilitary fighters apparently as protection for Vucic.
Vucic has accused the anti-graft protesters of staging a “color revolution” under Western instructions to oust him from power and “destroy” Serbia. He has organized parallel rallies to counter almost daily street demonstrations that have drawn tens of thousands of people for some of the biggest ever anti-government rallies in the country.
Serbia’s populist leader has faced accusations of stifling democratic freedoms, including pressure on the protesting students. In the latest incident on Monday in Novi Sad, police used batons and pepper spray while pushing protesters away from a sports faculty building. Several people were injured.
Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership but the accession process recently has been stalled amid Vucic’s increasing authoritarianism.
