Serbia – one year on, still protesting
Almost a year ago young Serbs took to the streets to protest a deadly roof collapse in Novi Sad, based upon perceived corrupt behaviors by government officials leading to the roof’s collapse. Unfortunately, not much has happened, but thankfully there still is much reporting, including Reuters. Though there has been much publicity from last November until now, the government has not investigated or accepted accountability. “An independent commission of professors, judges, and technical experts that investigated the disaster reported to the European Parliament last week that it had found high-level state graft that led to poor construction standards and the hiring of unqualified subcontractors.” Protests have continued, there have been outpourings of support, and they have unnerved those in power. This has led the authorities to arrest and harass over a thousand students and supporters over the past year, and in some cases brutally beating protesters and spraying them with tear gas.
Why is this still important and what should be done? As I have mentioned in many of the blog posts, protest is extraordinarily important. In this case, it continues to remind everyone that nothing much has been done, and the students and their supporters continue to highlight their concerns and thankfully this is still being recognized internationally. To that end, it is important that the international community, outside of media outlets, also continue to highlight what is going on in Serbia. Without such publicity by the international media, the world, as well as the local Serbians, wouldn’t know about it. Thank goodness for all the voices helping the students, now let’s hope that the Serbian government will do what is necessary hold those who have contributed to the deaths of their citizens, and hope they hold the officials accountable.
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