Goran Vesic, the now former Minister of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, has been remanded in custody due to the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad Railway Station, which killed 15 people and seriously injured two. The Nova.rs portal has uncovered details of the criminal complaint against Goran Vesic, which states that the station building was opened even though certain construction work was still ongoing, and the Republican Construction Inspectorate was not informed about this.
Goran Vesic was arrested on Thursday, and on Saturday, after being questioned, he was remanded in custody for 30 days. The railway station building has been renovated several times, and although the authorities have claimed from the very beginning of the tragedy in Novi Sad that the canopy was not being worked on, judging by the criminal complaint against the suspects, some work was indeed being carried out on it.
Among the suspects is the former minister, who resigned due to public pressure over the tragedy. The Nova.rs portal has obtained a copy of the criminal complaint against Vesic, which outlines what, according to the prosecution, he should have known before the Novi Sad Railway Station was opened.
Between May 25, 2020, and November 1, 2024, in Novi Sad and Belgrade, being in a position to understand the significance of their actions and control their conduct, acting in their official capacity, aware that by failing to comply with regulations and technical rules on safety measures they could endanger the life and body of people and have agreed to this, recklessly assuming that as a result, death and serious bodily harm would not occur to several persons, and being aware of the illegality of their actions, they endangered the life and body of people by failing to comply with regulations and technical rules on safety measures. They did so by:
“The accused Goran Vesic, in the period from October 26, 2022, to November 1, 2024, and the accused Anita Dimoski, in the period from December 13, 2021, to November 1, 2024, in Novi Sad and Belgrade, in their official capacity, namely the accused Goran Vesic, as Minister in the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, and the accused Dimoski as acting assistant minister, who was responsible for monitoring the Reconstruction, Modernization, and Construction Project of the Belgrade-Subotica-state border (Kelebija) railway line, and the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure was the financier of the aforementioned project which included the reconstruction, extension, and adaptation of the railway station building in Novi Sad – by not applying their powers from the area of public administration, on July 5, 2024, enabled the commissioning of the vestibule of wing B of the railway station building in Novi Sad. And so, by opening the vestibule of wing B, which they both personally attended, and by further work and use of the same by passengers, while construction work on the reconstruction and adaptation of the railway station building was still ongoing, until November 1, they did not inform the construction inspectorate, which is part of the ministry, in order to carry out an inspection and for the construction inspectorate to determine whether there were deficiencies in the railway station building that endangered the safety of its use and the surrounding area,” the order for the conduct of the investigation states, adding:
“Furthermore, a technical inspection of the building was not carried out, and a usage permit was not issued for the said building, as well to apply one or more measures within the jurisdiction of the Republican Construction Inspectorate, although they knew that construction work was still ongoing, that the same had not been reported by the investor “Infrastructure železnice Srbije” a.d. Belgrade, before the commencement of the works in accordance with the Planning and Construction Law.”
The order further points out other omissions in the conduct of the suspects.
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“Furthermore, in accordance with the Planning and Construction Law, a technical inspection of the railway station building was not carried out to determine the suitability of the building for use and to guarantee the safety of passengers and other persons, nor was a usage permit issued for the operation of the railway station by the ministry in accordance with the Planning and Construction Law, in which way passengers and other citizens were allowed to use the vestibule of wing B of the same building, as well as the space in front of the entrance until November 1, when the canopy collapsed,” it states.
The Nova.rs portal also had access to part of the complaint that refers to Jelena Tanaskovic.
“The accused Jelena Tanaskovic, in the period from May 7, 2024, to November 1, 2024, in Novi Sad and Belgrade, in the capacity of acting general director of “Infrastruktura železnice Srbije” a.d. Belgrade, as the investor in the Reconstruction, Modernization, and Construction Project of the Belgrade-Subotica-state border (Kelebija) railway line, which project also includes the reconstruction, extension, and adaptation of the station building, as a person responsible for the legality of its work, on July 5, 2024, enabled the commissioning of the vestibule of wing B of the railway station building, which she also personally attended, although the works had not been reported by the investor before the commencement of the works, and construction work on the station building was still ongoing,” the criminal complaint states.
It further states:
“Nor was a technical inspection of the railway station building carried out in accordance with the Planning and Construction Law to determine the suitability of the building for use and to guarantee the safety of passengers and other persons, nor was a usage permit issued for the operation of the railway station, in which way passengers in railway traffic and other persons were allowed to use the vestibule of wing B of the station building, as well as the space in front of the entrance until November 1 when the canopy collapsed,” the criminal complaint states.
15 victims, renovated station
As a reminder, the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad Railway Station occurred shortly before 12 noon on November 1. Fourteen people died at the scene, and last week, the 15th victim succumbed to their injuries.
Two people are in the hospital, and their condition is serious.
Although the authorities have claimed from the very beginning that the canopy was not being worked on as part of the reconstruction, photographs of the building itself showed otherwise. Also, some experts who were engaged in certain tasks related to the reconstruction of the building confirmed that there had been work on the canopy.
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Source: Nova.rs, Photo: Printscreen