Analysis: Protesters in Serbia turn tragedy into movement for change

Biology student Marija Petrovic says that when she and her colleagues began protesting against the Serbian government after the roof collapse at the Novi Sad train station that killed 15 people in November, they didn't think they would win so much public support for a cause, which has since prompted thousands of protesters to regularly fill the streets of this country.

After the tragedy there was little sign that protesters, who were blaming the government for corruption and nepotism, would provide wider support.

"We didn't think we would have so much support, but people started joining us, we learned how to organize in our faculties and on the streets. The first moments were very different from what we are experiencing now, because we didn't believe so many people would join us. But now on the streets we are seeing that what we are doing is very important, that people are agreeing with us and thinking that what we are doing is the right thing" says student Marija Petrovic.

Three months later, the demonstrations have grown into the largest protest movement in Serbia in years. The students, who are highly organized, were joined by tens of thousands of teachers, lawyers and other employees, blocking highways and squares, sparking a political crisis.

"We put aside our personal ideologies because what we're doing here is so much more important. We are trying to make institutions functional. The place is currently burning, we can't think about furniture, when we are trying to stop the fire. We have no ability or capacity to think in that way. This has made me more tolerant of other people's worldviews, while they are fighting for the same goal," says Mrs. Petrovic.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's government denies responsibility for the tragedy as well as for broader accusations about voter buying, restricting media freedom, violence against opponents and links to organized crime.

But Serbia's Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and the construction and trade ministers have resigned. This has not appeased protesters who say they are protesting against an autocratic regime.

Students protest every day, dyeing their hands with red paint as a metaphor for, as they say, the government's bloody hands. Students sleep in university buildings and are being fed donations. Teaching has been interrupted.

"For the last two months we are living together in our faculties, eating bread together, sleeping together, spending our days together. My experience is no more special or important than that of my peers. We are the voice through which all our peers and colleagues speak. We act as a community, we have no leaders, no individuals. We believe that the community we are part of is much smarter and smarter than a single individual," says student Petrovic.

The message of the protests – that the government performs its duties fairly and that demonstrations will not stop until this demand is realized – is being tightly controlled.

Petrovic says the protesters have faced threats and physical attacks, but they have reinforced their resolve. Their demands include the publication of documents related to the collapse of the station roof, bringing those responsible to justice, respite of charges against student protesters and a higher budget for higher education. President Vucic says he has met these demands.

The students have not called for the ouster of Serbian President Vucic. But their persistence has sparked one of the biggest threats to the president's long-standing power, political analysts say. The next protest is expected to be held saturday in Kragujevc, a rally expected to be the largest so far.