Serbia's victorious students call for key state officials to resign, graft probes

The student-led protest movement that unseated Serbia's longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic in a weekend election called on Thursday for the resignation of leading public figures and investigations into alleged corruption during Vucic's tenure.

Candidates for the student movement ran on an anti-graft ticket, with their landslide victory heralding a ‌new era in the Balkan country's politics, which Vucic dominated for 12 years. At a press conference in a park in front of the parliament building, representatives of the students demanded the resignation of police commanders, officials in the state security and military intelligence agencies, and state prosecutors.

They also called for the reopening or expediting of cases related to the dealings of Vucic's government, including the 2024 railway station canopy collapse ‌in Novi Sad that killed 16 people and sparked the student protest movement. "We demand an immediate audit of the current state of public institutions, ministries, public enterprises, the EPS electric power utility, ‌and state funds, including finances, contracts, public procurement and assumed obligations," said Filip Ubovic, a student activist. He urged public sector employees to preserve documents and report suspicious activity during the transition of power.

Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) deny allegations of corruption and repression. But the country has slipped down international indexes that measure press freedom and corruption, and critics have complained of violent attempts to silence them. In one high-profile case, prosecutors allege that senior government officials, including culture minister Nikola Selakovic, forged documents ⁠to unlawfully ​remove the protected status of the former Yugoslav Army ⁠headquarters in central Belgrade that US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner wanted to develop into a luxury hotel complex.

Selakovic denies wrongdoing. Kushner was not accused of wrongdoing and has since dropped the project. "The Student List ... urgently demands that the ⁠Supreme Public Prosecutor ensure that all public prosecutor's offices act lawfully, impartially, and swiftly in cases that have drawn significant public attention," said Jovan Vujicic, an assistant professor at the University of Kragujevac's Faculty of Law who will enter ​parliament for the Student List.

Supreme Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac on Thursday instructed chief prosecutors to submit requests to the police to prevent the destruction of official and other documents in ⁠state institutions. VUCIC TO REVAMP PARTY DEFEATED IN ELECTION

The call came a day after the director of pro-Vucic Serbian state television RTS, Manja Grcic, resigned after discussions with union representatives, saying she was aware that among some parts of the public, her stay ⁠in ​office is "temporarily perceived as an obstacle to change". Mirjana Nikolic, a professor and the rector of the University of Arts in Belgrade who will also enter parliament, proposed a temporary management board at RTS to "ensure continuity of operations, editorial independence, and the protection of journalists".

A few minutes earlier, Vucic, on Pink TV, which is also supportive of the previous government, condemned what he called the forced removal of ⁠Grcic. He also said he would refresh the SNS's board, bringing in new people to two-thirds of the positions. "We want to...examine how to change ourselves, how to be prepared for the difficult times ⁠ahead, to have...persons with knowledge and who will show ⁠genuine care for the people in the future," Vucic said.

In its latest update on Wednesday, Serbia's electoral commission said the Student List had secured 140 seats in the country's 250-seat parliament, with the SNS on 104, although the result is still not finalised, meaning parliament cannot be convened. The country is ‌waiting to see who the ‌students will appoint as prime minister and to other key positions.