(22 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belgrade, Serbia - 22 December 2024
1. Various aerials of protest
STORYLINE:
Tens of thousands streamed into a central square in Serbia's capital on Sunday for a big rally against populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government, whose tight grip on power has been challenged by weeks of street protests led by university students.
The rally at Belgrade's Slavija Square, one of the largest in recent years, was called by students and farmer unions. It was part of a wider movement demanding accountability over the Nov. 1 collapse of a canopy at a railway station in the country's north that killed 15 people.
Smaller rallies were also held in the cities of Nis and Kragujevac. The rally in Belgrade started with a 15-minute silence for the victims, and later chants of “You have blood on your hands!” were heard.
Many in Serbia blame the collapse on widespread corruption and sloppy work on the railway station building in the city of Novi Sad that was twice renovated in recent years as part of questionable mega projects involving Chinese state companies. Protesters demand that Vucic and those responsible face justice.
Prosecutors have arrested 13 people over the Novi Sad tragedy, including a government minister whose release later fueled public skepticism about the honesty of the investigation.
The weekslong protests reflect wider discontent with Vucic's rule. The populist leader formally says he wants to take Serbia into the European Union but has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms rather than advancing them.
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