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The rally in Belgrade blamed the collapse on rampant corruption
and sloppy renovation work on the station building in Novi Sad —
part of a wider deal with Chinese state companies involved in a
number of infrastructure projects in the Balkan country.
Borislav Novakovic, a former mayor of Novi Sad, accused the
ruling populists of “filling their bloody pockets while filling
cemeteries in Serbia." The state was "responsible for the crime
that took 14 lives,” he added. The crowd chanted “jail” in
response.
The several thousand protesters demanded that Prime Minister
Milos Vucevic and his government step down and that those
responsible for the collapse be arrested.
Authorities have opened an investigation and Serbia’s
construction minister submitted his resignation last week, but
no one has been charged or detained in connection with Nov. 1
accident.
Monday's rally was peaceful, unlike one last week in Novi Sad
when masked people threw rocks, bottles and red paint at City
Hall after thousands marched peacefully. Police used tear gas
against the rioters.
Government officials have promised full accountability, but
there is widespread skepticism because the populists control
both the police and the judiciary.
The train station, originally built in 1964, has been renovated
twice in recent years and was inaugurated by Serbia's President
Aleksandar Vucic and his populist ally, Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orbán, over two years ago as a major stopover for a
planned fast train line between Belgrade and Budapest.
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