Optimistic rebellion

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For the fourth month in Serbia, protests triggered by the collapse of the roof in the city of Novi-Sad have not been subside. Protesters require a fair investigation of the tragedy and the resignation of the leader of the country Alexander Vucich. The culmination of popular discontent was the rally on March 15, during which the authorities of Serbia, according to media reports, could use sound weapons against the protesters. DOXA tells how one of the largest actions in the history of the country and what are the prospects of protest.

• Author

  

  Author

  Nikita Pegov

• Editor

  Editor

  Semen Vladimirov

• Publication

  March 21, 2025

Capture of universities, government resignation: what happened after the tragedy in Novi-Sad

On November 1, at the railway station in the Serbian city of Novi-Sad, 15 people were killed as a result of the collapse of the previously renovated roof, another DV: e resident: Nitsa were injured . Tens of thousands of Serbo: we went out into the streets demanding that all involved in the tragedy be held accountable, publish a plan for the reconstruction of the station and conduct an independent investigation of corruption in public procurement.

At the end of 2024, Serbian student: Ki captured 62 out of 80 universities in the country. Now the occupation of many universities has ceased, but the student movement continues to actively participate in protests. By the New Year, the requirements of the protesters have expanded: in addition to the investigation of the tragedy in Novi-Sad, they now insist on the resignation of the government Alexander Vucic.

The authorities restrained restrained to protests. At the end of November, the former Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Goran Vesich was detained. He, along with another ten civil servants, is suspected of corruption conspiracy. However, Vesich’s case was not given a move: in early January 2025, the court rejected the petition for his detention, and now he remains free.

Protests in Serbia continued all January, which forced the government to make additional concessions. So, at the end of the month, the Prime Minister of Serbia Milos Vachievich fired. The mayor of Novi-Sad Milan Dzhurich also announced the resignation from the post.

The President of Serbia accused the “Western special services” of organizing protests, calling the student: to “Agent: Kami of the West”, but later did not develop this narrative, because Serbia itself receives significant funding from European structures.

The largest rally in history and sound weapons

However, these changes did not satisfy the protesters. On March 15, Belgrade took place the largest rally in the history of the country. According to various estimates, up to eight hundred thousand people occupied the city center.

Even before the start of the action, the authorities tried to prevent the protesters in every way. President Wucich threatened with “severe punishments” for participating in a rally, intercity and city transport was canceled, journalist: they deployed from neighboring Croatia and Slovenia on the border, and many security forces began to be pulled into the capital of Serbia.

These difficulties did not prevent the protests that have passed throughout the city. The column went to parliament, and among the participants in the protest, Voislav Koshtunitsa was seen, who in the past held posts of the President of Yugoslavia and Prime Minister of Serbia.

Beograd, 18:00 pic.twitter.com/nf1487abad

- Arhiv Javnih Skupova (@javniskupovi) MARCH 15, 2025

Rally in Belgrade on March 15

Support for the demonstration: Kam was given by local residents: Nitsa, who organized the distribution points of free food, and some pharmacies provided cotton and masks in case of spraying of tear gas. During the protests, the police beat students, journalists of independent media, dozens of protesters were detained.

Non -governmental organizations and the opposition claim that the authorities used the “sound gun” to disperse protests. Sound weapon is a complex of systems using acoustic waves. The range of some of the models reaches 5.5 thousand m. One of the most famous is the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device - long -range acoustic device), which is used to accelerate protests. Initially, the LRAD system was developed to protect ships from pirates and terrorists, today it is actively used in more than 70 countries of the world, as well as private military companies. . This happened during a 15-minute silence in memory of those who died as a result of a tragedy in Novi Sada. The opposition refers to the video from protests, on which it is noticeable how, at some point, the crowd starts to scatter sharply in different directions in the middle of the street for no apparent reason. “[Based on more] 500 messages of citizens and their testimony, it becomes clear that during the protest campaign, a strong sound blow occurred on March 15, causing a number of physical and psychological reactions in the present ,” the statement said .

It seems that the use of the so -called "sound gun" (LRAD device) against peaceful demonstrators in Belgrade was a step of despair of the Serbian authorities who could not convince people who have entered the streets to go home. But most importantly, this was a mistake of power. Serbia President Alexander ... pic.twitter.com/7HX74BHBND

- Dusko Kuzovic (@duskokuzovic) march 15, 2025

Presumably, the consequences of the use of a sound gun during protest on March 15

“ Eyewitnesses described the sound like a loud roar similar to the roar of an airplane engine or train in a tunnel, in combination with a high, extremely loud whistle, a gun shot or an explosion ,” the Serbian organizations also said .

Already almost 600 thousand people signed a petition to conduct an international investigation of the incident for the application of the “sound gun”, as well as the prosecution of “institutions and persons who ordered, ensured or carried out the use of sound weapons ”.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Serbia rejected the accusations of using experimental special equipment, saying that "the use of acoustic weapons does not comply with the law." At the same time, the prosecutor's office of Serbia began an investigation.

During the action, at least 13 people were detained. At least six of them are accused of "conspiracy and organizations of the coup." In turn, Vuchich said that about 50 people were injured during the protest, and at least 22 people were detained.

DOXA spoke with Russian Katya (the name changed), who moved to Serbia after the start of the war with Ukraine and takes part in protests. She says that she goes to rallies from solidarity with the people of Serbia and shares the values ​​of protest - first of all, its anti -corruption orientation.

Protest support, according to the girl, was universal. People from other cities who went to Belgrade on foot were connected to the march: due to the decision of the authorities to stop the work of transport.

“ I saw people of different ages. In addition to students and workers, there were grandmothers who waved from balconies. Many cried , ”says Katya.

After the rally, the president again hastened to blame the Western intelligence services of organizing the action, and called the incident “imported revolution”. He also rejected the possibility of holding early elections after the resignation of the Prime Minister. In turn, third-party: the current authorities defeated the camp in front of the headquarters of Vucich. Among them, the participants of the ultra -right groups are noticed, who are associated with the murder of the first democratic prime minister of Serbia Zoran Dzhindzhich On his initiative, the overthrown President Slobodan Miloshevich was transferred to the International Tribunal in the former Yugoslavia, which led to the murder of Ginjich by Serbian radical nationalists. In 2003.

Why do the student protest: Ki?

Doxa talked with one of the Serbian students: K, participating in protests-27-year-old Anna. She says that the protest was able to attract the attention of not only students, but also other social layers due to the huge scale of corruption in Serbia, which affect everyone. This problem is noticeable in the education system.

“The salaries of professors and teachers in Serbia are ridiculous. My mother is a professor of electrical sciences, and her salary is less than some people working in retail trade. In our universities and schools, most directors are corrupt. Moreover, they work there only because they steal [budget money], ” says Anna.

In addition, the determination of the student: to, according to Anna, she helped to draw attention to problems in Serbian society and persuade people who had not previously self -organization to counteract the state. The absence of a leader: Anna considers the protests an advantage, since horizontal self -organization allows you to attract more people than a protest led by political forces.

“When monks and Goths participate in one protest, it means that something is clearly wrong with the system,” she jokes.

The problem of Serb: KI is not only corruption. They are worried about high gas and electricity prices without visible infrastructure improvements, as well as police violence. Ecocactivist: Ki have also become an important part of Serbian protests, since the main mining company to Rio Tinto countries Serbia has large reserves of lithium, which are located near the city of Loznitsa in the west of the country. The deposits were discovered there in 2004, but the government stopped the Lithuanian production project in 2022 due to continuing protests and the recall of permission from the Australian Rio Tinto mining company, which is developing a mine. Actively cooperates with the current government and benefits from corruption transactions. It is also about the extraction of lithium, which negatively affects the environment and health of Serbo: K.

At the same time, Anna believes that changes in Serbia can be achieved peacefully. She insists that truly honest elections can and should occur in the country, and Vucich’s resignation will become only one of the stages of democratic transformations, since the country needs systemic changes and the change of the entire ruling elite.

What will happen next?

The editorial of the opposition Serbian Canal N1 Alexander Godfroyd believes that the protests will continue, since people no longer have fear of going out on the streets. The reason for this was the student’s dedicated actions: K, who were not afraid to oppose the authorities and security forces. Godfroyd reinforces his words with statistics: the channel views grew strongly, and people became interested in street politics.

The fact that the end of the protests was still far away, Anna said in an interview with Doxa. She believes that over time a representative will be included in them: nits of a wider circle of professions, and protest strikes will expand.

“I understand that people are afraid of everything new, but in order for a new system to arise, we need to rethink everything that we still believe in,” she says.