Driver rams into anti-government protesters in Serbia, seriously
injuring a young woman
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 [January 17, 2025]
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A driver rammed his car into a
crowd and seriously injured a young woman on Thursday at one of the
student-led protests that have been held daily throughout Serbia over
the November collapse of a railway station canopy in the country’s north
that killed 15 people.
The driver fled the scene in downtown Belgrade after the young woman was
thrown onto his car roof and then to the ground with bleeding head
injuries. N1 television said she was seriously injured and was taken to
a hospital. She was conscious, N1 reported while state RTS television
said she was in stable condition.
Police said they detained the driver and that he was being charged with
attempted murder. Several such incidents have been reported during the
protests since the blockades started, but this was the first time there
was a serious injury.
Hundreds of university students gathered later Thursday in front of the
law faculty in downtown Belgrade in a spontaneous protest in support of
the injured woman. They chanted slogans, including “Killers” and “You
will not be allowed to run us over.”
The students later marched toward the state prosecutor's office while
hundreds also gathered in Novi Sad, the northern city that was the scene
of the collapse of the concrete canopy at the railway station building.
“We are very concerned about today's incident against the
demonstrators,” the European Union mission in Serbia said on X. “The
right to assembly is a basic right which has to be protected when
peacefully exercised.”
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Residents throughout Serbia have been stopping in silence for 15 minutes
almost daily as part of persistent anti-government protests and demands
that those responsible for the canopy collapse be punished.
Traffic blockades have taken place daily since Nov. 1 at 11:52 a.m., the
exact time when the canopy in Novi Sad crashed down on people who were
sitting or walking under it.
The station building was renovated twice in recent years. Many in Serbia
believe rampant corruption led to sloppy work on the building
reconstruction, which was part of a wider railroad project with Chinese
state companies.
The collapse also has become a flashpoint for broader dissatisfaction
with the growingly autocratic rule of populist President Aleksandar
Vučić, reflecting public demands for democratic changes.
Vučić has alleged the student-led protests have been financed from
abroad to topple him from power by force. He has sided with people who
are against the daily protests saying their freedom of movement has been
jeopardized with the 15-minute blockades of traffic.
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