The student demands

All the students protesting by taking over their colleges have 4 demands in common: the release of all documents covering the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, vacating the charges against students who were arrested during the protests that were triggered by the fall of a canopy roof that claimed 15 lives, indictments against the men who assaulted protesting students and a 20 percent increase in government funding for universities.

1st Demand

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Milos Vucevic have been claiming that all the student demands have been met since December 14 when some documents were released on the government portal.

The students said the government did release a lot of the documents that they demanded but that this does not include the key documents needed to determine criminal responsibility for the reconstruction of the station, specifically the contracts that detail who did what and the expenses. They said 195 of the total of 857 documents were released and added that some of the released documents are not complete.

2nd Demand

The authorities released everyone arrested at the protests but the students are demanding an annulment of all charges. Prosecutors in Novi Sad have open cases against several people. N1 contacted the Novi Sad prosecutor’s office for comments about those cases but did not receive a reply. Most of the people with cases pending were arrested during initial protests in Novi Sad which included clashes with the police and allegations of police brutality.

3rd Demand

Students at Belgrade Arts University’s School of Drama Arts were the first to take over their college and the first to be assaulted during the 15 Minutes of Silence protest in memory of the victims from the Novi Sad Railway Station. They want the attackers identified and indicted as well as dismissed from their public posts in some cases. That has not happened yet but prosecutors in Belgrade said they identified some of the attackers, releasing only their initials, and adding that they will be questioned on January 9-10. That demand has been picked up by the other protesting students.

The police did arrest several people for ramming cars into the protesters with the case of a Porsche ramming into the crowd and four young men, including an off-duty policeman, getting out and beating up several protesters.

4th Demand

The students are demanding a 20 percent raise in government funding for university level education. The Serbian government decided on December 12 that the 2025 budget will be 20 percent higher than in 2024.