Female students celebrate the International Women’s Day through leadership protests in Serbia against corruption

Belgrade, Serbia (AP) – The students celebrated on Saturday the International Women’s Day in Serbia by leading daily street protests against corruption and sending a message that spoils widespread violence against women in the Balkan country.

University students in Serbia stand behind almost daily marches that started after the collapse of a concrete umbrella in November at the railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people.

Many people in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction has decreased due to the poor renewal of government corruption. Street demonstrations have become a challenge to the popular president Alexander Fuzic.

The students carried a banner reading: “Women in the front classes”, heading the march column, which passed through the central streets in Belgrade and with a building hosting the Prosecutor’s Office.

The demonstrators held 19 minutes of silence, instead of the 15 which was usually held for the victim of 15 victims of the umbrella accident. The four additional minutes were allocated to the four women who were killed in domestic violence in Serbia this year.

“I am here to support all women around the world, all mothers, fighters, and students, of course,” said Slavica Diagic, a resident of Belgrade.

The university students insisted on the full accountability of the umbrella, an invitation that received widespread support among citizens who are very disappointed with politicians and lost confidence in state institutions.

The gatherings led by students have drawn tens of thousands of people, and they became among the largest in Serbia, which has a long history of anti -government protests. Vocic described gatherings as a western trick to topple power.

The next large gathering was planned on March 15 in Belgrade, and Vucic claimed that “they will try to achieve something with violence and this will be the end.” He added that “many (demonstrators) will end behind bars accused of criminal acts.”

All the protests led by students in the past months were peaceful, while accidents were recorded when opponents led their cars to the protest siege or attacked the demonstrators.

The popular leader and his right -wing Serbian party arrested power in Serbia for more than a decade, confronting accusations of stifling democratic freedoms despite the official endeavor to enter the European Union to Serbia.

The authorities have accused 16 people of the collapse of the umbrella, but many doubts that the actual perpetrators will face justice.