In Serbia, hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of the capital Belgrade on Saturday to demand justice for 15 people killed in the northern city of Novi Sad last November when a train station roof collapsed on them. The disaster triggered months of anti-government rallies calling on President Aleksandar Vučić to resign, amid accusations of widespread negligence and corruption. The student-led protests have swelled to include teachers, farmers and workers.
Kristina Petrović: “We are waiting for authorities to be held accountable for what happened in Novi Sad, as we believe it is all about the irresponsibility of the state bodies.”
Aleksa Cvetanović: “Today we will demonstrate our dissent to show how many people will come out to show what we are striving for: for a normal state, a state of law, without corruption, lying, media pressures, persecutions, expulsions, unjust sentencing, etc.”
Serbia’s government denied reports from rights groups that police deployed a military-grade sonic weapon against protesters. Footage from Saturday’s rally shows a sudden noise directed at protesters triggered panic and a brief stampede.