The blockade of Kragujevac, the fourth largest city in Serbia, which protesting students organized for 15 hours on Serbia's national holiday, has ended. The students traveled back to their faculties, transported free of charge by volunteer taxi drivers.
From 9 a.m. yesterday, tens of thousands of citizens responded to the students' call and stopped traffic in Kragujevac for 15 hours in memory of the 15 victims who died when the concrete canopy of the Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November last year, BTA reports.
The blockade was called "Let's meet at Sretenie!", and the students chose Kragujevac because they perceive the city as a symbol and center of the rule of law. On February 15, 1835, the first constitution of the Serbian principality was adopted in Kragujevac, known as Sretenska after the church holiday of the Presentation of the Lord, which the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrates on February 15. On this day, as well as today, the national holiday of Serbia is also celebrated - Statehood Day.
The protesting students, who have blocked more than 60 faculties in Serbia for the past two and a half months, are demanding criminal and political responsibility for the tragedy in Novi Sad and accusing the government of corruption and nepotism, which led to poor-quality repairs to the railway station in the northern Serbian city.
The blockade in Kragujevac yesterday was attended by actors, teachers, lawyers, bikers, and farmers.
As early as February 14, the students from the University of Kragujevac were joined by numerous colleagues who came to the protest on foot from Belgrade, Niš, Čačak, Novi Pazar, Kraljevo, and other cities throughout the country.
Some of the students arrived by bicycle, while others ran the distance to Kragujevac like a marathon.
Tears from Joy, hugs and mass demonstrations of support accompanied the action, captured in numerous videos, photos and live broadcasts on social networks.
“Mom is with you!“, read a poster in the hands of an elderly woman. A video captured the moment when a student from the procession surprisingly saw her mother applauding her on the main street in Kragujevac and the two hugged each other excitedly.
The students carried the flags of Serbia and the faculties in which they study. One of the common inscriptions on the posters in Kragujevac was “Without revolution, there is no evolution“ .
The protest took place on Serbian Statehood Day, and on the same day the ruling Serbian Progressive Party called a rally in Sremska Mitrovica, about 200 km north of Kragujevac.
In his address to the hundreds of thousands gathered at the rally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that an attempt at a "color revolution" was underway in Serbia and called on students to end the blockades and restore the educational process at their universities.
The government and the president claim that the students' demands have been met and even informed the diplomatic missions of the European Union member states about this in a letter. Students and academics reject these claims.
Previously, student protesters organized a 27-hour blockade of the Freedom Bridge in Novi Sad, as well as a 24-hour blockade of the "Avtokomanda" road junction in Belgrade.
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned due to an attack by student protesters in front of the ruling party office in Novi Sad, and two ministers also resigned from their posts last year.