(16 Feb 2025)
Clients note: This item contains on-screen graphics, including AP branding.
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kragujevac, Serbia – 15 February 2025
1. Various aerials of people holding their mobile phone torch lights on for 15 minutes to pay respect to the 15 victims of a collapsed roof in Novi Sad
STORYLINE:
Thousands of striking students in Serbia held up their cell phone lights for 15 minutes on Saturday night as they continued their anti-government rally in the central city of Kragujevac.
The 15-minute light show reflected the 15 people who died after a concrete canopy on a railway station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad.
The students – and many others – blame corruption for the shoddy building work.
The protest is the latest in a nationwide anti-graft movement that reflects mounting calls for fundamental political changes in the Balkan state.
The rally in the central industrial city of Kragujevac drew tens of thousands of people who, besides demanding justice over the tragedy, have been demanding that officials root out rampant endemic corruption and respect for the rule of law.
Meanwhile, supporters of populist President Aleksandar Vucic held a parallel rally Saturday.
The anti-graft movement is Vucic’s biggest challenge in recent years. The president — who has ruled Serbia with a firm grip on power for more than a decade — and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have been previously accused of stifling democratic freedoms, publicly discrediting opponents and rigging elections, according to international vote observers.
The canopy disaster, widely believed to have happened because of government corruption, has become a flashpoint for wider discontent with the authoritarian rule, with university students at the forefront of the anti-graft uprising.
Their determination, youth and creativity have struck a chord among people widely disillusioned with politicians.
Prosecutors have charged 13 people over the canopy fall, and protests have forced the resignation of Serbia’s prime minister.
But students have said that their protests will continue until their demands for full accountability are met.
===========================================================
Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: info@aparchive.com.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9ff26e9bc87a4dffa019bb8af92f9b22
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in February 21, 2025, 3:05 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
