In the weeks since the collapse of a canopy at Novi Sad Central Station, there has been no letup in the protests in Serbia. At least 15 people were arrested after riots some claim were organized by pro-government groups.
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00:00Murderers, you've got blood on your hands.
00:04This is the only message student Mila Pajic wants to send to the Serbian government.
00:10For days, she and others have been protesting and seeking accountability
00:14for the collapse of the canopy at the entrance to Novi Sad Central Station
00:18that left 15 dead and 2 seriously injured.
00:22Mila was even brought in for questioning.
00:24But this was no ordinary arrest.
00:27She told DW that none of the officers showed any identification
00:30and there is no written record of her detention.
00:34We were surrounded by six men dressed in black
00:37who told us to go with them.
00:39When I refused to go with them, they picked me up,
00:43carried me to a black jeep and put me in that car
00:48when we were driving in an unknown direction.
00:52Over the last three weeks, dozens of people,
00:55including opposition politicians, activists and students,
00:58have been detained in this way in Serbia.
01:01At least 15 people are still in custody.
01:03There are reports that the health of a number of these people
01:06has deteriorated due to poor detention conditions.
01:10Opposition MPs have been given permission to visit them.
01:13They are in a room with people who are accused of serious crimes.
01:18This is not an environment where young people should be found.
01:21These young people expressed their dissatisfaction in a very exemplary way.
01:25In the end, it cannot be pleasant to be found in such a situation,
01:29deprived of freedom.
01:55The Serbian SPARTE is the name of the organization.
01:58They are the ones who are in charge of education,
02:02of GEPEC, as a baton for all the critics of the government.
02:07The Serbian president has called the protesters thugs
02:10and accused them of terrorizing the country.
02:13What is left for us in the state of Serbia,
02:16decent citizens, regardless of political orientation,
02:20is to give in to the work of state bodies
02:23and not to take any measures against them.
02:26This is what is left for us.
02:29This is what is left for us.
02:32This is what is left for us.
02:35We will not take any measures to show on the streets
02:38who is more numerous, who is more powerful.
02:54This repression comes out of nervousness.
02:57It is possible that it will intensify
03:00because this regime is losing its ends.
03:03It can control some social processes less and less.
03:06We can expect more and more repression.
03:09However, it seems to me that at that moment
03:12the government will have to look at its options
03:15and see how such behavior towards citizens
03:18communicates with its European partners.
03:31At the end of the day, the only thing left for us
03:34is the streets and the struggle.
03:37I can officially tell them now that we will not be afraid
03:40and that whoever is taken from the streets
03:43and arrested cannot arrest us all.
03:46In the end, at least someone will be left alone.
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