Protesters from all over Serbia are amassing in Belgrade on Saturday as the government struggles to stem the monthslong outrage over the deadly fall of the Novi Said railway station canopy in November.
Gatherings are being held in multiple locations in the Serbian capital. Farmers, bikers, military veterans and other groups are joining the demonstrations, with approach routes to key sites clogged by large crowds.
“In front of the parliament there is already a large number of people, and we have seen several processions by bikers and tractor drivers,” DW correspondent Sanja Klajic reported from the scene.
The number of participants was not immediately clear. The Interior Ministry estimated around 107,000 protesters, although some independent media give a much higher number in what is likely the largest protest since the 2000 ouster of autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.
To follow DW’s live blog on the Belgrade protests in Serbian, click here.
Huge crowds join anti-government rally in Belgrade
What are the protests about?
The Saturday march is seen as a culmination of a monthslong protest movement spearheaded by Serbian students. The protesters are demanding accountability for the deaths of 15 people in Novi Sad who were killed by falling rubble as the outdoor roof section of a train station caved in on them. The train station had been recently renovated under murky circumstances, with the involvement of Chinese companies and businesses with alleged ties to the ruling Progressive Party (SNS).
Serbian officials initially claimed no work had been done on the canopy, but later admitted this part of the building was also altered during the reconstruction.
Serbia: Anger mounts after fatal train station roof collapse
The protesters accuse the government of withholding key documents linked to the renovation effort. The government, led by strongman President Aleksandar Vucic, insists all necessary papers have already been made public.
In a wider sense, the movement has also encapsulated a whole range of complaints against Vucic and his government, including allegations of widespread corruption, nepotism, mismanaging natural resources and muddled responses to previous deadly incidents linked to government officials.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and Novi Sad mayor Milan Djuric have already resigned amid protests.
Vucic: ‘We have a state and we will show you the state’
While the rally officially started on Saturday afternoon, thousands of students and other participants arrived to Belgrade on Friday evening amid fears that the government would attempt to block transport links to the city.
Also on Friday evening, President Vucic warned of possible violence and repeated his claims that Western intelligence services were behind the unrest.
“I won’t allow the street to set the rules,” he said.
Serbia’s protesting students, teachers remain defiant
Vucic, who became the country’s undisputed political leader in 2014, is considered a nationalist but has pursued a carefully balanced foreign policy and boasts close working relationships with the US and the EU, as well as with Moscow and Beijing.
Days ahead of the Saturday march, Vucic warned that officials will “arrest all troublemakers.”
“We have a state and we will show you the state,” he said.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah