site.btaSerbs March in Support of University Professor after Stabbing Attack

Students and other citizens held a protest march in Belgrade on Monday evening in support of Natalija Jovanovic, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in the southeastern Serbian town of Nis, who was attacked with a knife and stabbed in the hand before an anti-government protest on Sunday.

Jovanovic was one of the first university professors to back students' blockades at more than 60 faculties in Serbia after the deadly collapse of the canopy of a recently repaired railway station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, which killed 16 people.

The assault on Jovanovic was perpetrated by a 69-year-old woman, who threatened to splash her with sulphuric acid but was stopped by police.

One of the placards carried by the Belgrade protesters on Monday said: "Solidarity – freedom – rule of law." The march started from the central Students Square, and upon reaching the Constitutional Court, the people held 16 minutes of silence, their phone flashlights turned on, to commemorate the 16 victims of the Novi Sad tragedy.

They marched past the editorial offices of the newspapers Novosti, Kurir and Politika, which, they say, are loyal to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, use hate speech and are involved in discrediting campaigns against the leaders of the protests.

The crowd called the march a "line of shame", and those at the front carried a sign which said: "Shame on you!"

After Sunday's assault on her, Jovanovic blamed President Vucic for "taking out a knife" on her.

Two days before the incident, Public Investment Minister Darko Glisic said that the Rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Djokic, is evil incarnate, accused him of corruption and demanded his arrest over his support for the students' protests.

In addition to Belgrade, demonstrations in support of Jovanovic were also held in the other three university centres in Serbia: Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Nis.