Bosnian students rally for justice, drawing inspiration from anti-graft struggle in Serbia Students rallied in Bosnia on Monday to demand accountability for deadly floods last year in a protest inspired by massive anti-corruption gatherings by fellow students that have paralyzed neighboring Serbia.
Strikes and blockades of roads and bridges by students in Serbia in the wake of the Nov. 1 collapse of a railway station canopy that killed 15 people have garnered support throughout the troubled Balkan region, which was devastated by a series of wars in the 1990s as the former Yugoslavia broke apart.
In Montenegro, which borders both Bosnia and Serbia, students have launched protests to seek the ouster of top security officials over two separate shootings in less than three years when gunmen killed 23 people, including children.
Protests in Montenegro include daily silent blockades lasting 23 minutes to commemorate the shooting victims, just as the Serbian students honor the 15 victims of the canopy fall each day.
“As we can see in Serbia, the protests there are effective because they are massive, other people are joining the students and they are persistent," said Sarajevo student Sumeja Durakovic.
