Thousands of students and their supporters marched silently through Serbia’s northern city of Novi Sad on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of a railway station canopy collapse that killed 16 people and sparked the largest protests in the country.
The commemoration came a week after the student-backed movement defeated President Aleksandar Vucic’s right-wing ruling party in parliamentary elections.
Calls for justice
Participants walked through rainy streets before gathering outside the station, where they laid flowers, lit candles and placed 16 wreaths and red hearts bearing the names of the victims.
Many of those killed were waiting for trains when the concrete canopy collapsed without warning.
“It’s hard to go back to the place where it all happened,” Dijana Hrka, who lost her 27-year-old son Stefan from the collapse, told Agence France-Presse.
“And each time, it gets harder and harder.”
Hrka said she hoped the political changes following last week’s election would speed up efforts to hold those responsible accountable.
“I believe justice will be served. That’s the only thing keeping me going right now – knowing there will be justice,” she said to AFP.
An emotional anniversary
A resident of Novi Sad, identified only as Danijela, 50, said the anniversary stirred mixed emotions.
“The emotions are indescribable,” Danijela tearfully said, as reported by AFP.
“I think everyone who comes here today will feel an energy that is a mixture of positive and negative emotions.”
Speaking at the gathering, a student said the victims would not be forgotten and pledged to build a fairer society.
“It was a murder and a murder demands accountability and justice,” the student said, according to The Associated Press.
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Investigations continue
The canopy collapse prompted scrutiny of the station’s multi-million-euro renovation, with many Serbians blaming Vucic’s government for corruption and negligence in public infrastructure projects.
Several investigations into corruption and high-profile murder, including the canopy’s collapse, remain underway.
Authorities have previously charged 13 individuals for the railway station tragedy; among them is former construction minister Goran Vesic, who stepped down from his post days after the collapse.
He and 12 others were accused last year of committing a serious crime against public safety, Agence France-Presse reported.
The corruption probe into the railway renovations, meanwhile, is ongoing.
Separately, prosecutors on Sunday ordered the 48-hour detention of Marko Kricak, who was Vucic’s chief of criminal police, over suspected abuse of office in another murder investigation.
According to AP, he is facing allegations of organising violence against student protesters and personally threatening a female student with rape, claims which he has denied.
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