Three prosecutor's offices are involved in the investigation into the November 1 tragedy, the president points the finger at the construction industry, and students believe that their pressure will force institutions to do their job. Four months after the collapse in Novi Sad, it has still not been established who is responsible. Pročitaj više

In November, 13 people were arrested, and then no one until five days ago, when this time, due to corruption, handcuffs were placed on the manager from Railway Infrastructure and members of the Technical Inspection Commission at the station in Novi Sad.

„It seems to me that this is about damage control and that those who can be arrested are being carefully chosen. What can they say about someone else who has not yet been arrested, and so the story is being adjusted both in terms of arrests and raising charges… and now even they don’t know what they will do in a week or two. Everything is balanced on a daily basis,“ says lawyer Jovan Rajic.

The president of the country said that anyone who made a mistake will go to prison. Vucic explains that the reconstruction of the canopy was not executed, as he says, in a structural sense and points the finger at the profession.

„I said that corruption is not the cause of the collapse of the canopy,“ says the president, while when asked by Insajder how he knows this, he responds: „Of course, I know. Because the profession is to blame, and corruption could have been involved, but that has nothing to do with the collapse of the canopy…“ says the president.

When asked by Insajder how that has nothing to do with it, he responds: „Because the canopy collapsed due to the mistake of the profession, not because one subcontractor paid less or more to another subcontractor.“

The case of the canopy collapse is being handled by both the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad and the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, and the case has also been taken up by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime.

„This points to confusion. I must say it is strange that the investigation is being conducted this way, based on the jurisdiction of three prosecutor’s offices simultaneously. How is it possible to establish meaningful coordination between them?“ asks the lawyer.

And precisely in line with that meaningful coordination, the question arises, „Can institutions fulfill the first student demand related to responsibility for the collapse of the canopy?“

„These people undoubtedly have the capacity to handle this, but whether they will and at what intensity will depend entirely on the pressure from students and society as a whole. If you had asked us two months ago whether this would happen, it seemed like it wouldn’t, but every time a concession is made when the situation in society rises to a higher level,“ says prosecutor Bojana Savovic.

At the end of last year, an indictment was raised against 13 people due to suspected negligence in the reconstruction of the canopy. For ten of the accused, detention has been extended for another 30 days. The former director of Railway Infrastructure Serbia, Jelena Tanaskovic, and the assistant in the Ministry of Construction, Anita Dimoski, are under house arrest, while the former minister, Goran Vesic, is free.