Mass student protests in front of RTS building: We are here because of media darkness

(Patria) - Student protests in front of the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) building in Belgrade began this evening with a moment of silence for those killed on November 1st at the Novi Sad train station.

As reported by reporters from Radio Free Europe (RSE), a large number of citizens gathered.

Students marched in protest from the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade to RTS, where they held 15 minutes of silence for the 15 victims in the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad station.

At the gathering titled "Our right to know everything," an allusion to RTS's slogan "Your right to know everything," they demanded objective reporting from Serbia's public media service on student protests and faculty blockades that have been ongoing for almost two months across the country.



Outside RTS, students read out their demands, including the identification and sanctioning of all those who attacked students. Those gathered chanted "general strike!".

In a protest performance, they symbolically presented the director of RTS, Dragan Bujošević, with a large model of a sandwich – fast food that has been associated in recent years with supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), who distribute it to sympathizers before rallies.

- We are here because of media darkness. We have a clear message – the public has the right to be informed about what is happening in Serbia – said one of the students from the Faculty of Philosophy.

A banner reading "RTS workers are with the students" was unfurled from the RTS building, to which the crowd responded by chanting "Thank you for the support".

"The space for the topic of student blockades on RTS is measured only in seconds," the Student Plenum announced before the protest.

Svašta. Samo napadaju onog jadnog čoveka. pic.twitter.com/Ns5xk3ACTw

— Vladan (@bagraubica) January 17, 2025

Demonstrations in several cities

The day before, thousands of students and citizens protested in several cities due to an incident in which a 20-year-old girl was seriously injured when a car hit her during a student protest blocking traffic in the center of Belgrade.

The Belgrade Faculty of Law announced that the injured student is from their higher education institution, that they demand the strictest punishment for the perpetrator, and appealed for an end to violence.

Thousands of students protested yesterday in front of the building of the Republic Public Prosecutor's Office, demanding that the perpetrators of the car attack on their colleague be punished.

They then protested in front of the building of the Presidency of Serbia, which houses the office of the head of state, Aleksandar Vučić.

Students and citizens also protested in Novi Sad, Niš, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Zrenjanin, Prokuplje, Subotica, Valjevo, Užice, Ruma, Kruševac, and other cities due to the injury of the student in Belgrade.