Student organisers in Serbia have called for a general strike this week as a last-ditch move to step up pressure on officials over the fatal collapse of a railway station roof last year.
The Balkan country has been regularly subjected to protests since the roof of the railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed in November, killing 15 people after reconstruction work on the facility.
A message posted on social media by a leading student group called on Serbs to engage in "general civil disobedience" on Friday, 24 January, and avoid going to work, shopping and other normal daily activities, AFP reported.
"Let's take freedom into our own hands! Your participation matters," the statement said.
Calls for a general strike have intensified in recent days after a spate of strike statements by scattered unions and professional organisations.
Public outrage has sparked almost daily protests and roadblocks across Serbia, with many attributing the deaths in Novi Sad to corruption and poor control over construction projects.
University students became leaders of the movement and blockaded educational institutions across the country for months.
More than a dozen people have been indicted in connection with the tragedy at the railway station in the northern town, including former transport minister Goran Vesic, who resigned days after the incident.
Under pressure from the protests, the government also published documentation related to the station renovation project, saying it had met all demands and accusing the demonstrators of being backed by foreign powers.
The protesters, however, demanded greater transparency in the investigations.
They are also protesting the government's response to the protests and the physical attacks on student demonstrators, which organisers say were carried out by hooligans sent by the authorities.
BGNES recalls that over the past two months, Serbia has seen protests in the thousands against corruption in the state administration and the refusal of politicians to take responsibility for the tragedy at the Novi Sad train station, in which 15 people died.
On 16 January around noon, citizens and students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Law, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering, Construction and Technology and Metallurgy blocked the intersection of Roosevelt and Queen Mary Streets for 15 minutes to pay their respects to the victims of the collapse of the Novi Sad train station's canopy.
A law student was hit by a car during the protest. | BGNES
