site.btaSerbian President Vucic Calls on Dijana Hrka and MP Ugljesa Merdzic to End Hunger Strikes

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called on Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of the 16 victims of the accident in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, and Serbian Progressive Party MP Ugljesa Mrdic, to end their hunger strikes in a post on his Instagram page on Monday.

"I asked them to end their hunger strike and invited Hrka to the Presidency for a meeting. I hope they will decide to end the strike," Vucic said, adding that he had spoken to both of them on the phone.

However, Dijana Hrka has no intention of giving up and will continue her strike until the relevant institutions start doing their job, according to a report by regional N1 television. She went on strike on November 2 because, as she said at the time, one year after the collapse of the concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station, which killed 16 people and seriously injured one, no one had been convicted.

Ugljesa Mrdic, a member of parliament from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), went on a hunger strike on October 31 and also refuses to end it until the prosecutor's office takes into account the evidence he has provided regarding the investigation into the tragedy in Novi Sad involving senior Serbian Railways Infrastructure company officials.

On Monday morning, Milomir Jacimovic, the owner of the bus that transported Dijana Hrka from Novi Sad to Belgrade on November 2, also began a hunger strike. Jacimovic wants the fines for disturbing public order and illegal parking to be revoked. The police have also seized all of Jacimovic's buses and are inspecting them. He has pitched his tent in front of the government building in Novi Sad, in the autonomous Serbian province of Vojvodina. He told N1 that his 16-year-old son would join him on strike.

Local media have reported that, in recent months, Jacimovic has been transporting citizens and students free of charge to anti-government protests across Serbia. Serbia has been engulfed in anti-government demonstrations led by students for a year. The protests began after the concrete canopy at Novi Sad railway station collapsed following repairs on November 1 last year, killing 16 people. Protesters believe that corruption and negligence led to the tragedy. Their demands for a transparent investigation and criminal prosecutions have evolved into calls for early elections.