Thousands of students and teachers in Serbia are heading to the capital for a potential major showdown with the government on Saturday.
Local reports said protesters were streaming toward Belgrade on foot from across the country.
Organizers expect their numbers to be swelled by members of the public in what could become the biggest demonstration so far since country-wide student-led protests began in November, triggered by the collapse of a concrete canopy at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, in which 15 people were killed, including a student.
Critics of the government have attributed the accident to a culture of corruption they claim has pervaded Serbia during the rule of the current political leadership.
In language that could up the ante surrounding Saturday’s protest, Aleksandar Vučić, the Serbian president, has said it could turn violent.
“Unfortunately, they will try to do something with violence and then they will realize that it is the end for them,” he said last week. “Many who commit crimes will end up behind bars; the others will realize that they were lied to by these politicians who promised them that something could be done with violence, and that is it. So, as things stand on Saturday evening, we will play the end.”
Earlier this week, Serbian police used force against demonstrators in the capital for the first time, increasing fears that the authorities may use force.
Vučić’s supporters have also been camping in the city center, fueling fears of clashes with the protesters, said the AP newswire. The pro-government camps have also been fortified with tractors, local media have reported.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Serbia’s railway company, Srbijavoz, canceled all intercity trains over an alleged bomb scare, in a move considered aimed at preventing protesters from traveling to Belgrade.
The Serbian Health Ministry has ordered hospitals in Belgrade to be ready to operate at “maximum capacity,” while the country’s parliament has also closed its doors for the weekend owing to fears of unrest.
Corruption
Many Serbians attribute the Novi Sad disaster to alleged rampant corruption, which they tie to the decade-long leadership of Vučić and his ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
They also accuse Vučić and SNS of ties with organized crime, stifling media freedoms, and violence against political opponents. Vučić and his allies deny that.
The government has said it launched an anti-corruption drive following the train station disaster, arresting dozens on graft charges.
In moves designed, perhaps, to placate the demonstrators, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and two ministers resigned last month, while prosecutors have charged 13 people over the railway station collapse.
The students have four demands, including the release of documents related to the railway station disaster, accountability for those responsible, and the prosecution of all those involved in the attack on students and professors during the protests.
