Canopy of Corruption

Thousands of Serbian protestors marched in the capital city of Belgrade
on Monday, calling for the resignation of the prime minister and other
top officials, the latest of ongoing and often violent protests since a
deadly roof collapse at a train station earlier this month, Euronews
reported. Monday’s rally was peaceful, unlike one last week in the northern city
of Novi Sad where masked protesters
threw rocks, bottles and red paint at the City Hall, while police used tear
gas against the demonstrators.
On Nov. 1, a massive 115-foot canopy on the outer wall of a railway
station collapsed in Novi Sad, killing 14 people, including a
six-year-old girl, and critically injuring three others,
reported Al Jazeera.
Serbia’s opposition politicians, activists, and rights groups accuse
authorities loyal to the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of Prime
Minister Miloš Vučević and President Aleksander Vučić of rampant
corruption, ties to organized crime, and nepotism that led to the
disaster.
Specifically, the protestors attribute the roof collapse to government
corruption in contracting the work and shoddy renovation techniques.
The train station was built in 1964 and renovated twice as part of a
larger deal with Chinese state companies involved in infrastructure
projects in the Balkan country. The renovation project, in conjunction
with Vučić and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was intended to
turn the train station into a stop for a future high-speed train link
between Belgrade and Budapest.
The station reopened in July, and construction work was ongoing when the
roof collapsed. Officials insisted that the canopy had not been part of
the renovation work.
Nobody has yet been charged in the incident, but authorities have opened
an investigation and questioned 48 people, including Vučić, in
connection with the accident.
Meanwhile, the Serbian construction minister resigned last week.