Protesting students and citizens are blocking the Serbian national television RTS for the fifth day, Serbian media report.
The protest will continue, as the students announced, until a new competition for members of the electronic media regulator REM is announced or until RTS stops working, Beta agency notes, quoted by BTA.
The blockade began on the evening of April 14. The entrances to RTS in the center of Belgrade are blocked, as well as studios located in the "Košutnjak" park, and the television employees cannot reach their workplaces.
RTS announced that due to the blockade it was forced to change its program schedule. Yesterday, the television filed a complaint against unknown individuals, and a reaction was also requested from international institutions, the media reported on its website. The television apologized to Serbian citizens that due to the "violent and illegal blockade" it will not be able to traditionally broadcast the evening and morning liturgy for Easter on Saturday and Sunday from the temple of "Saint Sava", as well as the Catholic liturgy from the cathedral of "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" on Saturday night.
A wave of protests, led by students, swept Serbia after the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad train station on November 1, which killed 16 people. As part of the protest actions, students are blocking about 60 faculties in the country. According to the protesters, the tragedy occurred due to corrupt practices that led to poor-quality repairs to the station. They want political and criminal responsibility for what happened to be borne, insist on fighting corruption, and that institutions work without political pressure and influence.
Students and citizens blocking the entrance to the RTS in the center of Belgrade observed 16 minutes of silence today in memory of the victims of the tragedy in Novi Sad. After that, loud music was played again, and a megaphone chanted "no easing of tension until the demands are met," Beta news agency reported.
Groups of citizens of different ages, wearing T-shirts with the inscriptions "I'm running for the students" and “I Walk for the Students“, joined the blockade.
As they explained, every week they run or walk from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts to one of the faculties blocked by students or to the place where they are currently located.
There are no police teams in front of the RTS building, only traffic police to stop traffic.