Canopy of Corruption

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Thousands of Serbian protestors marched in the capital city of Belgrade on Monday, calling for the resignation of the prime minister and other top officials, the latest of ongoing and often violent protests since a deadly roof collapse at a train station earlier this month, Euronews reported.

Monday’s rally was peaceful, unlike one last week in the northern city of Novi Sad where masked protesters threw rocks, bottles and red paint at the City Hall, while police used tear gas against the demonstrators.

On Nov. 1, a massive 115-foot canopy on the outer wall of a railway station collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 14 people, including a six-year-old girl, and critically injuring three others, reported Al Jazeera.

Serbia’s opposition politicians, activists, and rights groups accuse authorities loyal to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and President Aleksander Vučić of rampant corruption, ties to organized crime, and nepotism that led to the disaster.

Specifically, the protestors attribute the roof collapse to government corruption in contracting the work and shoddy renovation techniques.

The train station was built in 1964 and renovated twice as part of a larger deal with Chinese state companies involved in infrastructure projects in the Balkan country. The renovation project, in conjunction with Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was intended to turn the train station into a stop for a future high-speed train link between Belgrade and Budapest.

The station reopened in July, and construction work was ongoing when the roof collapsed. Officials insisted that the canopy had not been part of the renovation work.

Nobody has yet been charged in the incident, but authorities have opened an investigation and questioned 48 people, including Vučić, in connection with the accident.

Meanwhile, the Serbian construction minister resigned last week.