TRANSCRIPT
Filling the streets of Serbia's capital, Belgrade, are the sounds of whistles, vuvuzelas, and over 100,000 protesters.
In what some are describing as one of the largest student-led movements in Europe since 1968, at least 107,000 people descended on the city's downtown to voice their anger at the government.
Joining the students, taxi drivers, lawyers, academics and even farmers on tractors are taking to the streets to demand change.
One Serbian non-government organisation* estimated between 275,000 and 325,000 people attended the rally.
Protester Aleksa Cvetanovic says whatever the outcome, it's important for the people of Serbia to stand together.
“I would like to see a regime change, but it is a long shot; and it will be difficult to achieve. Today we will demonstrate our dissent, to show how many people will be there, to show what we are striving for, for a normal state, a state of law, without corruption, lying, media pressures, persecutions, expulsions, and unjust sentencing. We are hoping for the best. What will happen, no one knows."
The student-led demonstrations broke out in response to the collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people at a train station in the country's north.
Many Serbians say the tragedy was the result of rampant government corruption and negligence around safety regulations.
For citizens already disillusioned with politicians and state institutions, the determination of the students has struck a chord.
“Since the students started this, I think the students should continue and take it to the end, to the point when their conditions are met. Their demands are very good, their demands are very smart and coherent, because they are fighting– through the resolution of the station canopy incident – to also resolve the way we have been living in this country for the last few decades.”
It is a culmination of months-long daily protests, and the mass rally could challenge Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.
President Vucic, however, has remained defiant against their demands; threatening anyone involved in incidents of unrest with arrests and harsh penalties.
“I repeat, as long as I am alive there will be no transitional government, fraudulent government without the election, that should include the worst in this country, only because they think they have force on the street.”
But despite warnings about potential clashes between police and both pro and anti-government protesters, the rally has been described as mostly peaceful and no major incidents were reported.
After 13 years in charge, the now almost daily protests are challenging the government's grip on power like never before.
Despite multiple resignations, including that of the Prime Minister, Students are demanding all documentation related to the station's reconstruction be published and that those responsible be punished.
In late February, a survey conducted by the Research, Transparency and Accountability Centre found that 80 per cent of Serbians support the student demands.
Protester Kristina Petrovic says it's important that everyone in Serbia knows what is happening.
“I believe that after this, people will have a better awareness of what's going on in the country, and I am hoping we will be able to reach out to the people, that all will be good, and that we will return to normalcy. We are waiting for the authorities to be held accountable for what happened in Novi Sad as we believe it is all about the irresponsibility of the state bodies.”
*Arhiv javnih skupova, which specialises in counting protesters at various events, reports between 275,000 and 325,000 attended the event
