Tens of thousands of people joined student protesters in Serbia on Saturday in a rally against injustice and corruption.
University students in the Balkan country, which has been run by a populist government for more than a decade, have been holding nationwide protests since the fatal roof collapse of a train station in November that killed 15 people and which critics blame on government corruption.
The almost daily protests are attended by tens of thousands of people and have shaken the firm grip on power by President Aleksandar Vučić, who has described the protests as a Western-organized attempt to oust him from power.
The students said in a statement that they "want institutions that work in the interest of all of us and not to our detriment and a system that values knowledge and work and not obedience and silence."
Protesters from across the country gathered in Niš, about 200 kilometers south of Belgrade, to take part in Saturday's festival-style rally, expected to last for 18 hours.
The students said the event, during which a decree will be symbolically adopted, is "a wake-up call to move from apathy to action, from silence to a loud fight for a better future and a pledge to never give up!"
Serbia is officially on track to join the European Union, but President Vučić and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have been accused of curbing democratic freedoms and fueling rampant corruption since coming to power.
The Niš rally marks four months since the concrete roof at the central train station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on November 1.
The station building had been renovated twice in recent years as part of a wider infrastructure project with Chinese state-owned companies. Many in Serbia believe that work on the building was slow and did not comply with construction safety regulations due to widespread corruption.
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned amid protests and has denied involvement in corruption, while prosecutors have charged 13 people in connection with the collapse of the train station roof.
But these actions did not end the protests. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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