Protests and strikes across Serbia, cars used against students again

Citizens have joined today the general strike and student protests that have been demanding for months that Serbian authorities be held accountable for the deaths of 15 people at the railway station on November 1, 2024.

Several protests that began in front of educational institutions and other public spaces merged around 13:00 PM into a large procession that passed through the center of Novi Sad.

The work stoppage was joined by numerous private entrepreneurs, employees at schools and colleges, libraries, veterinary clinics, theaters, musicians, and some media outlets. According to Serbian media, tens of thousands of people were on the streets, in the largest rally in Novi Sad so far.

Several opposition MPs and city councilors who blocked the highway have been detained and sent to court, the deputy leader of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party, Marinika Tepic, announced on social media.

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Companies and state institutions were mostly open, and in some, workers complained that they were closed so that they could not leave their workplace.

In support of all the students' demands, employees of the University Clinical Center (UKC) Niš paused today for 15 minutes to honor the victims in Novi Sad.

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High school students who stood in silence for 15 minutes at the intersection of Kneza Miloša and Nemanjina streets in central Belgrade, headed towards New Belgrade, where they were supposed to meet their colleagues from New Belgrade schools in Ušče.

An incident occurred in New Belgrade when a driver in Block 70 hit a 26-year-old woman with a Citroën car, who was transported to the emergency room, while the police arrested the driver of the vehicle.

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Professors and citizens of Kraljevo gathered in front of the Kraljevo Gymnasium in support of the students and in response to the general strike.

Protests also took place in Subotica and Sombor, where several thousand people participated.

Read too General strike begins in Serbia - Vučić is not meeting the four demands of students

At the same time, President Aleksandar Vučić and the ruling Serbian Progressive Party called for a large rally in Jagodina that should mark the formation of a "popular movement for a dignified Serbia," in contrast to the mass protests aimed at a fairer society based on the rule of law.

We recall that students, who have been blocking around 60 faculties in Serbia for more than two months due to the tragedy at the Novi Sad railway station, have called on Serbian citizens to go on a general strike.

Among other things, the students called on the citizens of Serbia to completely suspend all activities, saying that the "general strike" should be an expression of general civil disobedience and civic solidarity.