Slovenian students honor Serbia tragedy with road blockade
Several dozen protesters filled a busy intersection near the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, blocking traffic for 16 minutes to commemorate the victims of the tragedy that sparked student protests in Serbia in a show of solidarity with Serbian students and their demands.
Organised by students of the University of Ljubljana, the protest unfolded at the intersection of Aškerčeva and Slovenska roads, which was chosen because of its proximity to several faculties and schools. The student protests in the 1960s were held in the same location, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
"It is time to line up at this historic crossroads, choose the right direction and continue the path towards justice, freedom and dignity for all," the protest organisers wrote on social media.
They decided to organise the rally because none of the demands of the protesters in Serbia have been met and because systemic repression and violation of human rights were on the rise around the world.
The Serbian student protests were provoked by the collapse of a concrete canopy of the main railway station in Novi Sad, north Serbia, in November last year, which killed 16 people. Students in Ljubljana blocked the intersection silently for 16 minutes to commemorate the victims.
The police said the protest had not been registered and the organisers did not take security measures, such as organising a policing service or obtaining a permit for a road closure. In such cases public order is maintained by the police.
In the past few months several protests were held in Ljubljana and Maribor in solidarity with Serbian students as well was in response to Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković expressing his support for Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
