The canopy collapse in Novi Sad*** happened exactly two years ago, at 11:52 a.m. Sixteen people lost their lives in the tragedy, including young Stefan Hrka. His mother, Dijana Hrka, became one of the symbols of the protests over the past two years, and in an interview with Nova.rs, she speaks about everything she has been through.***
The canopy collapsed at the main railway station in Novi Sad, which had reopened just a few months earlier following renovation work.
In this unprecedented tragedy, the following people lost their lives: young girls Valentina and Sara Firić, their grandfather Đorđe Firić, Milica Adamović, Nemanja Komar, Stefan Hrka, Sanja Ćirić Arbutina, Goranka Raca, Vukašin Raković, Milan Karanović, Đuro Švonja, Vasko Sazdovski, Anja Radonjić, Vukašin Crnčević, Miloš Milosavljević, and his girlfriend Anđela Ruman, who was pregnant at the time of the canopy collapse.
Dijana Hrka, the mother of Stefan Hrka, one of the 16 victims of the canopy collapse, told Nova.rs in an emotional interview that her life has become extremely complicated since the great tragedy and has changed completely, adding that she no longer lives anything like she did before.
“The hardest thing is when you look at your phone and there is no message, no call. It hurts so much. I often go to the cemetery, at least twice a week. I go there, talk to Stefan, and somehow feel a little better at that moment. They say time heals everything, but they are lying. Time heals nothing. Nothing has healed for me; every day it gets harder and harder. It is incredibly difficult to live with this,” Dijana Hrka says.
She emphasizes that, after two difficult years, she finally has hope for justice.
“That means new people taking up very important positions, changes in the prosecution service, among judges and in the police. I hope the police and the prosecution will start doing their jobs and that the canopy case will be resolved. This victory means a great deal to me, truly, precisely because of the canopy tragedy. I want to find out who killed my child and see those people convicted,” the grieving mother said.
She points out that there have been many tragedies over the past years and hopes that all the families will finally get justice.
“For example, the helicopter crash, the toll booth accident, and I won’t even list them all. There have been so many tragedies, and I hope everything will now come to light. I know what it means not to know who killed the person closest to you. I think that now we will also find out what happened in those cases and who was responsible. The fact that the students took this fight upon themselves should make us ashamed. They had the backbone that we didn’t. We should be thanking these young people for the rest of our lives. They started an avalanche, mobilized us as a nation, mobilized all of us, and they succeeded,” Dijana Hrka says.
Our interviewee emphasizes that the Student List achieved victory precisely because the students were extremely responsible and waited for the right moment before taking every step.
“They kept me alive, actually, they kept all of us alive. They took on an enormous burden on their shoulders, and I thank them for that. Now we will wait for justice and accountability for those who were beaten as well. I hope we will manage to resolve everything that has happened to us. Yes, we won, but the real fight is only just beginning, on all fronts. You know what state our country is in,” says the mother of Stefan.
Hrka emphasizes that justice could only be served once everyone responsible receives appropriate prison sentences.
“I will repeat it again: Aleksandar Vučić, Milorad Dodik, and Zorana Mihajlović. Those three first, then the other 13, and all the companies involved, the contractors and subcontractors. Everyone must be questioned and sent to prison. Only then would justice be served, in a way. Justice will never be fully served. There will always be someone who manages to get away with something,” our interviewee states.
Her only wish is for institutions to simply start doing their jobs and act responsibly.
“I want everything to start functioning. Perhaps it won’t happen overnight at first, but I believe everyone will become more responsible. I think the new government, once it is formed, will be much more responsible and function much better. And everyone must be held accountable. That is the number one priority,” says the mother of the young man who lost his life.
She once again expressed special gratitude to the students, who have given so much to this country and made sacrifices so that everyone could live in a better state today.
“Some of them even froze their university studies so they could be out on the streets, fighting for all of us and demanding accountability for everyone who lost their lives. I had a feeling that justice for Stefan would be within reach, that we would succeed and that Stefan could see it. I know that if he could see what is happening, he would be happy and proud of me. He would know that he has not been forgotten and never will be forgotten, not just him but all 16 victims,” Hrka says.
Dubona, Ribnikar, Malo Orašje
Our interviewee emphasizes the importance of remembering all the victims, including those killed in the “Ribnikar” school shooting, Dubona, Malo Orašje, and all the other tragedies that have struck Serbia in recent years.
“There have been so many tragedies. We must always remember all of them and make sure such tragedies never happen again. The canopy case must now be properly resolved so that similar things never happen again and tragedies are not repeated. We must learn once and for all that corruption kills. Nobody should ever take even a single dinar to sign a document or do something illegal, only for other people to die and someone else to suffer because of it,” the grieving woman states.
Stefan Hrka’s mother also sent a message to the other families of the victims of the canopy collapse, telling them that they had succeeded and that justice was finally within reach. She also thanked all citizens for the support they had given over the past two years.
“If I had the chance to address him again, I would tell my Stefan that his Serbia stood by him. That his friends stood by him, his professors, teachers, and preschool educators. That everyone was there for him, that his entire Serbia stood by him. And that the students were there too, that he could have seen the young people who stood up to fight for him. He would certainly have been proud of all of us. I talk to Stefan every day when I go to the cemetery. I talk to him at home, looking at his photograph, and at the cemetery. Son, we won. Just a little longer and we will achieve the final victory, exactly as it should be. I want you to be proud of all of us,” Dijana Hrka, Stefan Hrka’s mother, said in conclusion.
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Source: Nova.rs, Foto: Milos Tesic / ATAImages
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