{"id":159930,"date":"2025-01-20T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=159930"},"modified":"2025-01-20T13:11:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T11:11:57","slug":"american-diaspora-stands-with-students-protest-held-in-new-york-in-support-of-youth-in-serbia-photo-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/american-diaspora-stands-with-students-protest-held-in-new-york-in-support-of-youth-in-serbia-photo-video\/","title":{"rendered":"AMERICAN DIASPORA STANDS WITH STUDENTS: Protest held in New York in support of youth in Serbia! (PHOTO, VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A gathering in support of students in Serbia <\/a>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.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Nata\u0161a Saciri, a lawyer who attended the gathering with her daughter, told Voice of America. Her daughter carried a banner that read: \u201cFor Sonja.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The banner refers to Sonja Ponjavi\u0107, a law student who was seriously injured on January 16th after being hit by a car during one of the blockades in Belgrade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from the Law Faculty in Novi Sad, Nata\u0161a Saciri sought a better life in New York. With further education, she managed to return to her profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Filip Cvetkovi\u0107<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m 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,\u201d says Nata\u0161a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d said Nata\u0161a to Voice of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: Filip Cvetkovi\u0107<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFifteen 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,\u201d Aleksandar Ze\u010devi\u0107, a journalist and one of the protest participants, told Voice of America. He stated that he left Serbia because there was no future there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy 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,\u201d Ze\u010devi\u0107 told Voice of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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