INDJIJA, Serbia (AP) — Hundreds of striking students marched through the Serbian countryside Friday as they took their anti-graft protest toward the northern city of Novi Sad, where they intend to blockade three bridges over the River Danube this weekend.
The bridge blockade planned for Saturday will mark three months since a huge concrete construction at the railway station collapsed in Novi said on Nov. 1, leaving 15 people dead.
What started two months ago as a protest against suspected corruption in construction contracts has developed into the most serious challenge in years to the country’s powerful populist leader, President Aleksandar Vucic.
Meanwhile in Belgrade, a driver rammed a car into a silent protest Friday, injuring two women who work as doctors at a nearby psychiatric institution. Media reports say both hit the pavement with their heads and are being examined.
The incident, the third of its kind in weeks, happened in downtown Belgrade during 15 minutes of silence observed daily throughout Serbia at around noon when the canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad.
A witness, Doctor Elena Matkovic, told N1 television that the driver first reversed his car for a short distance, and the protesters thought he would turn around, away from the blockade, but instead he accelerated forward, slamming into people.
“We really did not expect that he would drive through a crowd of people,” she told N1. “If you are asking me whether we will stop (the blockades,) we most certainly will not. This is not the moment to stop."
Protesters have repeatedly faced attacks, including on students, with drivers ramming cars into demonstrations on two previous occasions. Two people were seriously injured.
Along the way to Novi Sad on Friday, the students were greeted by cheering citizens who honked their car horns or came out of their homes to offer food and drinks.
Hundreds more people on bicycles headed separately toward Novi Sad on Friday while Belgrade's taxi drivers said they would come too and help drive back the marching students home on Sunday.
When the students reached the town of Indjija on Thursday, roughly halfway along their 80-kilometer (50-mile) route, they were welcomed with fireworks and cheers from residents.
Although most of them spent the night out in the open in a soccer field, the freezing temperatures did not dampen their desire for major changes in the corruption-ridden Balkan state.
Nevena Vecerinac, a student, said she hoped the protesters' demands that include the punishment of all those responsible for the rail station tragedy will be fulfilled.
“We will make it to Novi Sad," she said. ”Yesterday’s walk was easy. It’s cold now, but we can make it. We all have the same goal."
“We need support from all people. With this energy and mood I hope we can do it, otherwise there will be no brighter future,” said Luka Arsenovic, another student marcher.
Many in Serbia believe that the collapse of the overhang at the train station was essentially caused by government corruption in a large infrastructure project with Chinese state companies. Critics believe graft led to a sloppy job during the reconstruction of the Novi Sad train station, poor oversight and disrespect of existing safety regulations.
Monthslong demonstrations have already forced the resignation of Serbia’s prime minister Milos Vucevic this week, along with various concessions from authorities which were ignored by the protesters who say that is not enough.
Vucic and other officials have shifted from accusing the students of working with foreign powers to oust him, to offering concessions or issuing veiled threats.
The strength and determination of the protesters have caught many by surprise in a country where hundreds of thousands of young people have emigrated, looking for opportunities elsewhere.
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Stojanovic and Associated Press journalist Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.
Eldar Emric And Dusan Stojanovic, The Associated Press
