site.btaUPDATED Thousands Protest against Serbian Government in Belgrade

A major anti-government protest kicked off at 5 p.m. Eastern European Standard Time in Belgrade on Saturday. According to the organizers, this is the largest anti-system protest in Serbia, with hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the streets of Belgrade.

The protest has been called at the initiative of students who have been blocking more than 60 faculties since the end of November because of the Novi Sad tragedy. In November last year, a concrete canopy of a railway station fell in the northern Serbian city, killing 15 people. The event sparked a wave of social discontent that led to the emergence of a student movement in the country.

Serbian students have been organizing protests for four months in various major cities in Serbia demanding accountability for the deaths of 15 people in Novi Sad. Through blockades and protests, students are calling for the publication of all documentation on the station renovation to establish whose responsibility the tragedy is, the indictment of the attackers of protesters at previous protests, and an end to the trials of the protesters arrested so far.

The government has announced that all the demands of the protesters have been met, but the students stand by the view that their demands have not been fully met.

The Interior Ministry said that some 107,000 people attended the major gatherings in the Serbian capital on Saturday. The police noted that "the number of protesters is steadily decreasing."

Protesters in Belgrade stood in silence for 15 minutes after the names of the 15 people who died in Novi Sad were read aloud.

"Today’s protest is not the end of our struggle. It is a call for a long-term battle to change the system," protesting students wrote on Instagram.

To ensure students from other areas can continue participating in future protests, their stay in Belgrade has been secured until March 17.

Earlier in the day, Belgrade police arrested and took away a man who was standing on the corner of Knyaz Milos St and Kral Alexander Blvd and told the guards that he was carrying two bombs and wanted to blow up the building of the Presidency. No explosive devices were found during the search, the Serbian Interior Ministry said.

A car rammed into protesters in the Zarkovo neighborhood, injuring three people. The driver was detained.