A gathering in support of students in Serbia was held in New York on Sunday. These students have been protesting for over two months, demanding accountability for the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1st, which killed 15 people and seriously injured two.
“I support our students in their fight for a rule of law. I admire their courage and perseverance. Part of my family still lives in Novi Sad, and I was deeply affected by the tragedy that occurred in my city,” Nataša Saciri, a lawyer who attended the gathering with her daughter, told Voice of America. Her daughter carried a banner that read: “For Sonja.”
The banner refers to Sonja Ponjavić, a law student who was seriously injured on January 16th after being hit by a car during one of the blockades in Belgrade.
After graduating from the Law Faculty in Novi Sad, Nataša Saciri sought a better life in New York. With further education, she managed to return to her profession.
“That’s why I’m here to support the students, to show them that they are not alone. I think that taking to the streets is the least that each of us can do to contribute to their fight, because they are fighting for all of us,” says Nataša.
She believes that corruption and the politicization of institutions are among the most common reasons why people leave Serbia and hopes for changes for the better so that people can stay in their homeland.
“I would like for all of us to be able to return one day and raise our children without fear that they will be exposed to the wrong values,” said Nataša to Voice of America.
“Fifteen lives were crushed by the weight of a regime that values profit over safety. And while the authorities wash their hands of responsibility, students have turned their grief into clear, dignified protests with clear demands that those responsible be brought to justice, that the dead never be forgotten,” Aleksandar Zečević, a journalist and one of the protest participants, told Voice of America. He stated that he left Serbia because there was no future there.
“My childhood was marked by banging on pots during the news, in an attempt to drown out the lies of a corrupt government and its propaganda machine. My growing up is forever marked by the scars of wars, sanctions, and demonstrations because of people like the man who now, almost 30 years later, sits in the presidential chair. Too many lives have been stolen by greed. Now, twenty years later, these students are fighting for what I once dreamed of. And it’s high time to eradicate the parasites of that country,” Zečević told Voice of America.
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He adds that he wants a Serbia where people can work without fear for their lives, where corruption is punished, not protected, and where criminals belong in prison, not in parliament. And he states that it is precisely the students who are fighting for this.
“The president calls himself the ‘future of Serbia,’ but the future stands on the streets, not hiding in the presidential office threatening with his hooligans and ‘cobras.’ One day I want my children and nieces to go to a Serbia they can be proud of – a place where sorrow no longer fuels protests and justice is no longer a dream. These students are fighting for that future. Their courage and perseverance are the last hope,” Aleksandar says to Voice of America.
Mirjana Pantić, a university professor, tells Voice of America that she feels an organic need and moral responsibility to support the students in Serbia, both as someone who grew up there and as a university professor.
Pozdrav iz NYC ❤️ pic.twitter.com/DTXNjQNWns
— Dr. Mirjana Pantic (@MiraPantic) January 19, 2025
“They are asking for what is the basic minimum in every healthy democratic state, and that is for institutions to do their job. The tragedy, or rather the crime that happened in Novi Sad when the canopy collapsed, caught me in Serbia and deeply shook me, as it did all of us. For the first time in many years of being quite isolated from following events in Serbia, I began to get more actively involved,” Mirjana told Voice of America, who also shared a video of the protest on social media.
“The reason is that I believe this generation that is now on the streets can create a healthier society and we are here to help, and if we can’t help then we should step aside so as not to get in the way. And this gathering of ours in New York is a kind of message that we believe in the youth of Serbia and that we are with them always and until the end, even when we are on the other side of the ocean,” says Mirjana to Voice of America.
The latest wave of protests in Serbia began a few days after 15 people were killed in the collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station on November 1st.
The symbol of the protests has become the “bloody hand,” and one of the most frequently repeated slogans at the gatherings is “corruption kills.”
As part of an action called “Stop Serbia,” demonstrators are blocking major traffic routes and institutions in cities across Serbia.
The wave of blockades was started by students at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade on November 22nd, when individuals attacked those gathered in front of the faculty building while they were silently paying tribute to the victims.
After that incident, students and female students from almost all faculties in the country joined the protests. Teachers also expressed support for the students, as well as representatives of numerous other professions.
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Source: Glas Amerike, Photo: Nikola Bradonjić