{"id":658,"date":"2025-10-31T08:31:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=658"},"modified":"2025-10-31T08:31:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T08:31:02","slug":"thousands-march-in-serbia-to-mark-deadly-train-station-collapse-a-year-ago-protests-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=658","title":{"rendered":"Thousands march in Serbia to mark deadly train station collapse a year ago | Protests News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Youth are marching from Belgrade to join a rally in the country\u2019s north after months of sustained protests.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 31 Oct 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">31 Oct 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Thousands of Serbian youth are marching across the country before a mass rally in the northern town of Novi Sad, marking the first anniversary of a train station collapse that prompted the country\u2019s biggest antigovernment protest movement in decades.<\/p>\n<p>The roof failure on November 1 last year killed 16 people, including four children, and led to ongoing calls to remove the right-wing populist President Aleksandar Vucic. Protesters have blamed deep-seated government corruption and demanded snap elections, which Vucic has ignored.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>In the capital of Belgrade on Thursday, university students waved flags as they started the 90km (56-mile) march to Novi Sad, where they are expected to join tens of thousands of other protesters on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Others have been marching for weeks, including from the southwestern town of Novi Pazar, more than 300km (185 miles) from Novi Sad, reported Al Jazeera\u2019s Milena Veselinovic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe main reason we decided to do the walk is the 16 victims, and the fact that even after one year, no one has been held responsible for their deaths,\u201d Emina Spahic, one of the Novi Pazar students, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Enes Dzogovic, another student, said people in even \u201cthe most remote places\u201d had aided the students with \u201cwhatever we need\u201d along the road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re always there to help us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3806297\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3806297\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-3806297\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AFP__20250628__6472646__v1__HighRes__SerbiaPoliticsDemo-1751177472.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Protestors clash with Serbian Riot Police as tens of thousands of protesters gather in central Belgrade on June 28, 2025.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3806297\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters clash with Serbian riot police as tens of thousands of protesters gather in central Belgrade on June 28, 2025 [Oliver Bunic\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"escalating-protests\">Escalating protests<\/h2>\n<p>What started as an outcry against the train collapse has since morphed into wider discontent with Vucic\u2019s government.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors eventually charged 13 people, including a former transport minister, over the tragedy. But the charges require approval from a higher court, and no trial date has been set.<\/p>\n<p>Government officials have denied accusations of corruption and inadequate oversight.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, protesters have faced an increasingly violent police response, prompting the Council of Europe and other watchdogs to express concern over authorities\u2019 excessive use of force.<\/p>\n<p>At a Pride rally in September, police wielded tear gas and stun grenades, with students accusing them of launching \u201cbrutal attacks on their own citizens\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Nikolina Sindjelic, a student who was arrested during protests in August, said at another rally that police beat her when she was detained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have hit us and they will hit us because they know it is all over [for them],\u201d Sindjelic told the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past month, about 1,000 protesters have been arrested, Al Jazeera\u2019s Veselinovic reported.<\/p>\n<p>Vucic, who has held office since 2017, has falsely claimed that foreign security services are behind antigovernment protesters, as he defended police actions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not going to allow destruction of the state institutions,\u201d Vucic said last month. \u201cSerbia is a strong and responsible state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Critics accuse Vucic of being increasingly authoritarian since coming to power, first as prime minister in 2014 and then as president since 2017. Serbians have a history of uprooting strongman leaders; they removed Slobodan Milosevic 25 years ago after bloody protests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Youth are marching from Belgrade to join a rally in the country\u2019s north after months of sustained protests. Published On 31 Oct 202531 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Thousands of Serbian youth are marching across the country before a mass rally in the northern town of Novi Sad, marking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}