On Friday evening, Kragujevac greeted with great emotion and excitement the students who had set off on foot toward the city from multiple directions earlier in the week to attend the Saturday rally, “Let's Meet on Sretenje.”
Students from the central Serbian city of Kragujevac invited all their peers and the public to a large protest rally and a 15-hour blockade of the city’s main road on Saturday, February 15, starting 9 am.
On February 15, Serbia celebrates Statehood Day, while the Serbian Orthodox Church also commemorates Candlemas (Sretenje) on the same date. The first constitution of the Principality of Serbia was enacted on February 15, 1835 in Kragujevac.
In addition to the students who marched to Kragujevac from a number of towns and those who set out by bicycle to Kragujevac from Novi Sad and Belgrade, a group of students on Friday ran a relay race from Belgrade to Kragujevac, under the motto: “We are running toward freedom, we don’t have time to wait.”
On Friday protests were again held throughout Serbia.
Representatives from all high schools in the city of Nis, along with a large number of residents, gathered in front of the Nis Basic Court on Friday. They blocked the main city intersection and saw off a group of students to Kragujevac.
After a protest march, the crowd arrived at the School Administration building, chanting “We want justice.”
Employees of the Nis Health Centre gathered outside this institution and displayed a banner reading “We Stand with Students.”
In Zrenjanin, a protest was held in the city center at the invitation of students from the Technical Faculty. A professor told the students, education workers, and citizens that they are “heroes of the streets and their parents’ pride.”
Under the slogan “We Spread Love – We spread Justice,” Belgrade high school students gathered at the capital’s central square, and then marched to the Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office building, where they observed 15 minutes of silence for the victims of the Novi Sad disaster. Performances by a choir and a music school band were held, followed by a charity bazaar.
In Novi Sad, employees of the Serbian National Theatre blocked traffic at an intersection and observed 15 minutes of silence.
People throughout Serbia observed a 15-minute moment of silence starting 11:52 am to honor the victims of the Novi Sad disaster. A concrete canopy at the recently renovated Novi Sad main train station collapsed at that exact time on November 1, killing 15 people and severely injuring two. This tragedy, and assaults on students sparked the ongoing protests in Serbia.
