Thousands of students protest in Serbia against violation of civil rights, spy agency crackdown

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This article was published 12/01/2025 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s striking university students protested outside the Balkan country’s top court on Sunday to draw their attention to what they say have been violations of their civil rights under the populist authorities, including pressure from the secret service.

The rally began with thousands of people standing in silence for 15 minutes in front of the Constitutional Court in the capital, Belgrade, to commemorate the victims of a concrete canopy collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad in November which triggered almost daily anti-corruption protests.

A separate rally was also held in the southern city of Nis.

The ongoing protests reflect wider discontent with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule. Vucic formally says he wants to steer Serbia toward European Union membership but he has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms rather than advancing them

Classes at Serbia’s universities have been suspended for weeks with the students demanding accountability for the canopy collapse at the railway station building in Novi Sad on Nov. 1.

Many in Serbia believe the huge canopy collapsed because of sloppy reconstruction work that resulted from corruption. The Novi Sad railway station building was renovated twice in recent years in a deal with Chinese state companies.

Fourteen people were killed and three others were severely injured after tons of concrete crashed without warning. One more person later died while in the hospital.

Striking students have reported pressure from Serbian state security and Vucic, who has accused the students of receiving money from the West for their protests.

The pro-government media have bluntly published personal data of some of the protesters, which would not be possible without the involvement of Serbia’s secret service, or BIA.

Luka Stojakovic, who was targeted by the pro-government media along with his twin brother, told N1 television that “we have learned that BIA (Serbia’s state security agency) can knock on our doors, conduct repression against our parents and invited us for a ‘friendly’ chat.”

“They published our (personal) data and no one was held responsible,” said Stojakovic.

“I expect that there will be more pressure, I know there will be,” added Stojakovic. “I expect there will be pressure on our parents and that they will link us to political parties, but we will not give up until all our demands are fulfilled.”

Student protests have posed the biggest challenge so far on Vucic’s tight grip on power. The students have received widespread popular support and their rallies have drawn tens of thousands of people.

During their rally on Sunday, the protesters read out the articles of Serbia’s Constitution that they say have been violated with the various forms of state pressure on their protests. Vucic’s constitutional role as president should be mostly ceremonial, but instead he has gradually assumed control of almost all levers of power since taking office 13 years ago.

In one of his frequent public appearances on state-controlled media, Vucic called the Sunday protest “stupid” and added that he will step down only when he decides to do so.

“They (the protesters) live in their own world. They are not my problem, but I blame those who are pushing them about all this. I mean their professors,” Vucic told Pink TV.

Serbia’s prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people over the train station canopy collapse, including a government minister and several state officials. But doubts prevail over the probe’s independence under the authorities.