The file of the tragedy that rocked Serbia reaches court. A former minister and other officials, accused of collapsing the Novi Sad Station
Demonstrations after the tragedy from Novi Sad. Andrej Isakovic / AFP / Profimedia
A Serbian prosecutor charged 13 people on Tuesday, including a former minister, for their role in the collapse of the roof of the Novi Sad station, last year, an incident with the death of 16 people and the start of months of national protests against the Government, notes Reuters.
Former Minister of Construction, Infrastructure and Transport, Goran Vesic, along with 12 other defendants, including a counselor and director of the railway company, were accused of violating public safety rules, said the Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad.
In the accusation act it is mentioned that the defendants ordered “the use of the station building, although the construction works were still in progress and no authorization had been issued to maintain the building”.
Other charges aim to “not meet the structure of the station building and offenses committed in the design and execution phase of the renovation works of the Novi Sad station”.
The charges are to be verified by the court.
The collapse of the roof triggered months of protests throughout Serbia, including the closing of universities, shaking the authority of President Aleksandar Vucic, a former ultra -nationalist to convert in 2008 to support the country's accession to the European Union.
The protesters, who put the disaster on account of corruption, demand the organization of early elections, in the hope that they will remove Vucic and his party, after 13 years of governance.
They accuse Vucic and his allies of links with organized crime, of using violence against rivals and restricting the freedom of the press. Vucic rejects these accusations.
