In Serbia, students and trade unions are joining forces for an anti-corruption protest
Kyiv • UNN
For the first time in 20 years, 5 Serbian trade unions will jointly protest with students against corruption, triggered by the railway station tragedy. They demand changes to labor legislation.
Serbian trade unions will join a protest organized by student leaders for the first time on Thursday, six months after a train station tragedy that sparked mass demonstrations against corruption, UNN reports with reference to AFP.
Details
Serbia has been gripped by unrest since a newly renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed last November, killing 16 people - a tragedy many see as the result of corruption and poor oversight. It has already led to the resignation of the prime minister and the fall of the government.
But on May 1, students and members of the five largest trade unions will gather in front of the Serbian government building in the capital Belgrade. Students announced on their official Instagram account that "their struggle is entering a new phase."
Željko Veselinović, leader of the Sloga ("Unity") trade union, acknowledged the importance of this event in comments to AFP. "The students united us," he said.
"In my 20 years of trade union work, there has never been a case where these five trade unions have stood together at a protest - or even in the same room - working on something together," he added.
Students said that after the protest, they will no longer be limited to blockades that have kept their faculties closed for months. "This is a step towards radicalization that will allow the use of new forms of pressure," the students wrote, without elaborating.
They have already called for the prosecution of those responsible for the accident and the dropping of charges against students arrested during the blockades. Now they are insisting on amendments to labor and strike legislation.
Many teachers who supported them have gone unpaid for months due to unclear laws that allow employers to stop paying them even if they are not striking. "They protect the authorities, not the workers," the students said of the current legislation. "These laws must be changed."
Student protests have taken place almost daily across Serbia for the past six months, with the largest drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
Ahead of each major demonstration, students traveled the country on foot for weeks, trying to reach people in the country's small towns - traditional strongholds of the ruling party.
A group of 80 students even cycled to Strasbourg to warn European institutions about the situation in Serbia, while a group of ultramarathon runners is heading to Brussels for the same purpose.
According to lawyer Hrki Ivan Ninić, the investigation into the disaster has not progressed. "The investigation should have been completed in these six months, charges should have been filed and the trial should have started," Ninić told AFP.
On December 30, prosecutors formally filed criminal charges against 13 people, including the former Minister of Transport, for creating a threat to public safety. However, the Serbian court returned the indictment for further investigation.
"What this means is that the prosecutor conducted the preliminary investigation poorly and was unable to conduct prosecutorial actions with sufficient quality," Ninić said.
In parallel with the investigation into the tragedy, the Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office is also investigating potential corruption during the reconstruction of the Novi Sad railway station.
And the EU Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) has launched its own investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds related to the reconstruction of the railway line and station.