Student demands

The students demanded the publication of the complete documentation related to the reconstruction of the Railway Station in Novi Sad. The initial response to this demand was that only the Prosecutor’s Office had access to the documentation, but shortly thereafter, it was partially published by other state authorities. Our colleagues from technical faculties, as well as from the Association of Architects of Serbia, have noticed that the published documents are missing key documentation necessary to establish the criminal responsibility of those who managed the reconstruction of the Railway Station and were involved in it.

Specifically, the missing documents include contracts that show who did what on the Railway Station and how much it cost, why the reconstruction cost increased fivefold, as well as who is responsible for the Railway Station being ceremonially opened twice without an occupancy permit.

On 12 December, the Government of the Republic of Serbia ordered the Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure (MCTI) to publish all documents “at their disposal” and “related to the possible commission of a criminal offense due to the collapse of the canopy on the station building in Novi Sad.” This formulation leaves room for the Ministry to withhold certain documents if it deems them unavailable or not related to the canopy collapse. As a result, 195 documents were published, compared to the 857 held by the Prosecutor’s Office.

By thoroughly reviewing the published documents, we identified deficiencies, of which the key ones are as follows:

• Contracts with contractors and subcontractors
• Interim and final situations, bills and invoices
• Tender documentation for contractors and subcontractors

Document 03, dated 9 October 2017:

Project assignment for the development of the conceptual design with a Justification Study for the modernization, reconstruction, and construction of the BG-SU-State Border Railway.

MISSING:

• The technology of work execution and Proposal for the technology, organization, and dynamics of work execution in accordance with the characteristics of the designed facilities (as required by the project assignment).

Document 04, dated 13 December 2017

Decision on the Establishment of the Joint Commission for QUALITATIVE, QUANTITATIVE, AND FINANCIAL DOCUMENTATION CONTROL subject to the Contract for the Development of the Conceptual Design with the Justification Study for the section of the NS-SU- State Border Railway.

MISSING:

• Contract for the Development of the Conceptual Design with the Justification Study for the section of the NS-SU-State Border (Kelebija) Railway, No 340-01-00493/2017-04, dated 20 October 2017, between the Republic of Serbia, the Institute of Transportation CIP, and the Serbian Railways Infrastructure JSC.
• Preliminary Contract for the development of the Feasibility Study for the modernization of the BG-SU-State Border (Kelebija) Railway, dated 14 April 2015, No 340-01-00073/2015-01, between the Republic of Serbia and the Institute of Transportation CIP.

Document 10, dated 6 August 2020

REPORT on the professional review of the Justification Study and the Conceptual Design (CD)

MISSING:

• Location conditions dated 6 April 2020.

Document 54, dated 12 September 2022

Report of professional supervision on the review of the Construction Design 2/9.1.1.1 – static calculation – Version 3 of the Detailed Design (DD).

Document 56, dated 12 September 2022

Report of professional supervision on the review of the Construction Design 2/9.1.1.1. – reinforcement and steel details – Version 3 of the Detailed Design (DD).

MISSING:

• Versions 1, 2, and 3 of the Detailed Design for the Construction Design.

Document 57, dated 12 October 2023

Report of professional supervision on the review of the Architectural Design – Detailed Design (DD) – Version 4

MISSING:

• Versions 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Detailed Design for the Construction Design.

Document 36, dated 28 February 2024

Draft Decision of the engineer regarding additional works based on the instructions from the Financier/Client, to be the subject of Annex 4.

MISSING:

• Annex to the Draft Decision of the engineer.
• Engineer’s decisions regarding additional works or offers for additional works to be the subject of Annex 1.
• Annex 1
• Offer for additional works to be the subject of Annex 2
• Annex 2
• Offer for additional works to be the subject of Annex 3
• Annex 3

Document 38, dated 8 March 2024

Review of the Proposal for the Decision on the Acceptance and Signing of Annex 4 to the Commercial Contract dated 7 July 2018.

MISSING:

• Engineer’s Decision dated 25 October 2022, engineer’s Decision dated 3 October 2022, engineer’s Decision dated 8 March 2024.
• Draft of Annex 4 with a price table.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH:

• The Rulebook on the Content and Method of Conducting Professional Supervision (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, Nos 22/2015 and 24/2017).
• The Special Building Usance (Official Gazette of the SFRY, No 18/77).

MISSING:

• Construction Logbook
• Construction Record Book
• Inspection Book
• Minutes of Handover OF the WORKSITE to the Contractor
• Minutes of Work Handover and Final Settlement Report
• Certificates OF Installed Materials

We emphasize that the purpose of this demand is not only to make the documentation available to the public but also to encourage the Prosecutor’s Office to review it within the scope of its functioning system and subsequently take actions provided for by law.

Due to the inactivity of the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) regarding this demand, the Dean of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDA), Full Professor, filed a criminal complaint with the Third Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office on behalf of the Faculty on 2 December 2024. The criminal complaint concerns individuals reasonably suspected of physically assaulting students and professors of the Faculty on 22 November 2024, committing the criminal offense of Violent Behavior and Violent Behavior at a Public Gathering or Sporting Event.

The identified individuals, as determined by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, are:

1. Milija Koldžić
2. Aleksandar Jokić
3. Dušan Kostić
4. Milena Aleksić
5. Ivan Stanišić

This demand applies not only to the aforementioned individuals but also to any future individuals who physically assault students, professors, or any other persons participating in peaceful civil gatherings.

According to publicly available information, this demand is also extended to individuals whose identities have not yet been confirmed by the competent authorities but are suspected to be:

1. Tatjana Makević Nikolić
2. Dražen Đurđić, President of the Municipality of Sremski Karlovci
3. Miljan Vračarević
4. Predrag Veselinović
5. Mladen Radenković, Head of the Public Order and Peace Department, Belgrade Police Directorate
6. Aleksandar Čavić, Member of the City Assembly of Belgrade
7. Petar Čavić
8. Gavrilo Kovačević, President of the Zemun City Municipality
9. Dejan Paunović, Commissioner of the Rakovica Municipal Board
10. Igor Đogić
11. Vesna Čingelić, Member of the Rakovica Municipal Council
12. Đoko Nenadić
13. Stefan Pantelić Stefanović, Member of the New Belgrade City Municipality Council
14. Luka Roganović

In addition to initiating criminal proceedings against individuals who physically assaulted professors and students, and for whom this is to be confirmed, if it transpires that these individuals are public officials, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1, 3-4 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption and Article 112, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code, we simultaneously demand their dismissal from office.

In the previous period, government representatives stated that all participants in the civil protests had been released. However, this is not considered fulfillment of the demand.

The reason behind this is that release from detention does not guarantee that these individuals will not be criminally prosecuted or that a conviction will not be rendered against them. In line with this, we demand that criminal charges against all students and professors who participated in civil protests be dismissed, and if criminal proceedings are ongoing, they should be suspended.

The allocations for higher education provided for by the Budget Law of the Republic of Serbia for 2025 from the sources of General Budget Revenues and Income amount to 60.15 billion dinars. The allocations for higher education include items from the budget for Higher and University Education (Chapter 26.4), Student Standard (Chapter 26.5), and the Criminal Police University (Chapter 15.1).

The students have every right to demand an increase of 20% in the aforementioned funds (i.e., an increase of approximately 12.03 billion dinars, or 102.8 million euros), which would bring the level of investment in higher education closer to that of Central and Eastern European countries (1.71% of GDP, according to OECD methodology).

Why was the demand not fulfilled?

A 20% increase in “material costs was announced, which would lead to an overall budget increase of only 4% (i.e., 22 million euros). “Material costs,” therefore, refer only to a segment of the budget for Higher and University Education.

Instead of the requested improvement in the quality of higher education, part of the public has been misled into believing that the demand has been met.

Justification of the demand

The availability, accessibility, and quality of higher education are the standards of a progressive society, and its financing must not be questioned. The state is obliged to provide conditions in which higher education is a choice available to everyone, with a quality that is competitive on global university rankings. Shifting the financial burden from students to the budgetary income would significantly ease the conditions of studying at all levels, enabling greater participation of financially disadvantaged groups in higher education.

Therefore, we demand the introduction of a new funding mechanism that, following amendments and supplements to the Law on Higher Education, would provide faculties with funds equivalent to 50% of the total value of ECTS points that students would otherwise pay. This would increase the funding for higher education without changing the actual cost of ECTS points (set by the faculties), and students would pay 50% lower tuition fees than the full amount. We consider this the first step toward free education. Furthermore, we demand that the remaining funds be evenly distributed between other budget categories, including Student Standards and Higher and University Education, excluding salaries and other employee income.

We also note that the limited capacity of faculties to engage in scientific research hinders society in terms of technological and economic potential, while insufficient funding for research leads to the devaluation of the professional workforce and encourages their emigration from the country.

For all the reasons stated above, we demand that the Government, based on Article 123, paragraph 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and Article 150, paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 171 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, submit to the National Assembly a Proposal for Amendments and Supplements to the Budget Law of the Republic of Serbia for 2025, in order to increase the budget for higher education by 12.03 billion dinars. Additionally, we demand the amendments and supplements to the Law on Higher Education, which would oblige the state to contribute 50% of the total value of ECTS points. We consider the demands to be met when the National Assembly finally adopts the submitted Proposal in its original form, with the requested amendments and supplements to the Law on Higher Education. We remind you that in accordance with Article 106 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, an extraordinary session can be convened, which would lead to the prompt unblocking of universities, provided that the first three demands have been met. By fulfilling these demands, the total allocation for higher education would amount to 110.55 billion dinars, and the share of spending on higher education in Serbia would thus reach 1.11% of the GDP, which we consider the minimum acceptable level of investment in future budget laws.

On Saturday, March 15, 2025, during a peaceful protest and tribute to the victims in Novi Sad, a phenomenon of unknown origin occurred, which caused fear and panic among citizens. Given the seriousness of this event and its potential safety implications, and in accordance with the legal obligations of the competent authorities in the field of maintaining public order, peace and safety of citizens, we demand the conduct of a thorough investigation, as well as determining all relevant circumstances, including:

1. Identification of the technology used and the location from which the unidentified phenomenon was caused;
2. Determination of the legal basis and purpose of the application of the unidentified technology, as well as the determination of the grounds and justification of its application on March 15, 2025;
3. Identification of the person who ordered and executed the action that led to the unidentified phenomenon, and the initiation of appropriate proceedings in accordance with the law, without delay;
4. The manner in which the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other competent authorities will prevent the unfounded and unjustified application of unidentified technology as a means of coercion during peaceful gatherings of citizens in the future.

This request arises from the need to protect the right of citizens to a peaceful assembly, which is clearly defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and the Law on the National Assembly. The rights to freedom of assembly and expression of opinion are one of the fundamental pillars of a democratic society. It is evident that this is an act of intimidation of citizens and a violation of fundamental human rights.

According to the Law on Public Prosecutor’s Office, holders of the Public Prosecutor’s Office are expected to perform their duties professionally, conscientiously, impartially, fairly and without unnecessary delay, and to respect the independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to the Law on Police, members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are expected to behave professionally, to act impartially and depoliticized, and to respect legal regulations. Establishing the facts and specific responsibility for the use of unidentified technology as a means of coercion during a peaceful tribute to the victims in Novi Sad is a key step towards ensuring the protection of human rights and preventing similar incidents in the future.

Some of the patients who were heavily injured in a terrible fire in the town of Kočani inNorth Macedonia were transported to Belgrade for treatment and were situated at the intensive care unit of the Emergency Centre of the University Clinical Centre of Serbia (UCCS).

On 17 March 2025, a large number of individuals entered the intensive care unit, including the President of the Republic of Serbia, the Minister of Health who had resigned and a journalist team. These individuals violated several hygiene measures which serve to protect patients from risk factors which may lead to serious endangerment of their health and life. The oversights, among other things, include: not using the adequate footwear and clothing, not using the adequate sterile equipment for audiovisual equipment, improper wearing of medical gowns, removal of medical face masks while giving statements to the media, touching patients without using sterile gloves.

At the intensive care unit were patients whose state of immunodeficiency, caused by thermal skin damage, places them in extreme risk of infections which would eventually endanger their health and life, of which preventable hospital infections are the most dangerous and ethically and morally unacceptable. Through these oversights the rules of the medicinal profession and ethical code were flagrantly broken. Photographs and video recordings showing the heavily injured patients were published in native media. We stress that these patients are foreign citizens, among whom many are underage individuals. Some of the recordings prove the access of an unauthorised individual to a patient’s temperature chart, which is a confidential medical document. Through the President of Serbia’s press statement, the public gained insight into confidential medical information which were put forward in the following way:

“I had the opportunity to visit the people injured in the terrible tragedy in Kočani in North Macedonia. Nine of them are here at the Clinical Centre. I previously visited two of them, then together we visited seven of them. The last person we visited was in life-threatening condition, the rest are not, although that should not be said. The burn degree is from four percent to, to not scare the families, much higher levels.“

We emphasize two professional, legal and ethical oversights made on this occasion. The first oversight concerns the entry of the President of the Republic and numerous members of journalist teams into the intensive care unit of one of the most prestigious health institutions in Serbia, without adequate protection, endangering the health of patients with burns which are susceptible to infection. One of the photographs even depicts the President touching such a patient without sterile gloves.

We remind that on 13 January 2025, with the aim of prevention and control of the spread of respiratory infections, the Central Commission for Hospital Infections of the UCCS implemented visiting restrictions for all hospitalised patients at all UCCS clinics.

We also remind that as prescribed in Article 9 of the Law on Patient’s Rights, the patient has the right to timely and quality health service in accordance with their health condition and established professional standards. The right to the quality of health service includes the corresponding level of health service and humane treatment of the patient. The patient’s right to safety in ensuring health protection is guaranteed by Article 10 of the Law on Patient’s Rights, and as such the health institution is obligated to ensure safety while providing healthcare, and to continually track risk factors and take steps to reduce them.

A health institution and the responsible individuals within that institution which allow a large number of unauthorised and inadequately trained individuals to enter the intensive care unit and record, photograph and even touch patients in critical condition, break elementary rules of their profession and the protocols regarding handling immunocompromised patients.

The second oversight concerns public revealing of information regarding the health status of patients.

We remind that Serbia has signed and ratified the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, which states that everyone has the right to respect of privacy regarding information on their health (Article 10 of the Convention). The European Court of Human Rights particularly insists in its practice on the protection of the right to respect of privacy in the context of protecting health information. It is the duty of the state not only to ensure conditions for enjoyment of the rights to dignity and privacy, but to actively ensure those rights are NOT being violated.

We remind that Article 21 of the Law on Patient’s Rights prescribes that information on health status is particularly sensitive information regarding the patient’s identity. All healthcare workers and co-workers are obligated to safekeep this information, as well as all other persons employed in healthcare institutions and health insurance organisations, who have access to that information solely for the sake of practising their profession regulated by law. Anyone who, without authorisation or consent of a patient or legal representative, reveals information about another’s health status in public, is responsible for revealing particularly sensitive information. The aforementioned individuals can only be released from their obligation to safekeep the patient’s health information by written acceptance from the patient or their legal representative, or based on a court decision (Article 22 of the Law on Patient’s Rights). A violation of the obligation to safekeep particularly sensitive information regarding the patient’s identity is sanctioned as a misdemeanour.

We also remind that the Medical Code of Ethics of the Doctor’s Chamber of Serbia prescribes that professional secrecy includes all of the doctor’s knowledge of the patient and their personal, family and social environment, as well as all information related to determining, treating and tracking the disease that the doctor has obtained during practise of their profession. A secret is disclosed only to the necessary measure and only to the individual responsible who requires that information to prevent consequences. On top of that, when it is allowed, information regarding the patient may be disclosed only in a manner which maintains the anonimity of the patient. In such an instance, respect of the patient’s personal dignity must be maintained. We believe that it is the responsibility of the Doctor’s Chamber of Serbia to respond without delay to the unscrupulous violation of all professional and ethical principles of the doctor’s profession.

Having in mind everything said, WE DEMAND the initiation of a procedure to determine responsibility and the dismissal of UCCS director Prof. Dr Jelena Drulović, UCCS Emergency Centre director Asst. Prof. Dr Marko Ercegovac, head of the intensive care unit of the UCCS Emergency Centre Asst. Prof. Dr Dušan Micić, for allowing or not preventing the following:

• unauthorised entry of individuals into the UCCS Emergency Centre intensive care unit, without adequate safety equipment, which created greater danger to the health and life of immunocompromised patients;
• unauthorised entry of journalist teams into the UCCS Emergency Centre intensive care unit and photographing and recording the patients situated there, which violated their personal dignity and created greater danger to the health and life of immunocompromised patients;
• disclosing of confidential medical information regarding the status of patients situated at the UCCS Emergency Centre intensive care unit to unauthorised individuals, which the President of the Republic of Serbia put forward into the public, thereby violating the dignity of the patients, peaceful family life and and the right to privacy of those patients.

WE DEMAND: the initiation of misdemeanour procedures against the healthcare institution, the responsible individuals within the healthcare institution and the healthcare workers who violated the obligation to safekeep particularly sensitive information regarding the patient’s identity, contrary to provisions of Article 21 and 22 of the Law on Patient’s Rights.

WE DEMAND: that exceptional outside quality control be conducted on the professional work of the UCCS Emergency Centre in accordance with Article 191 of the Health Care Law (333) and for the conclusion and recommendations of the conducted supervision to be made available to the public, while keeping in line with protection of identity information.

WE DEMAND: an exceptional inspection of work of the UCCS Emergency Centre and for the report on established violations and recommendations to be made available to the public in accordance with Article 246 333 and the Law on Inspection Supervision, while keeping in line with protection of identity information.

WE DEMAND: that inspection of enforcement of the Law on Personal Data Protection at the UCCS Emergency Centre be carried out, i.e. that inspection be carried out in accordance with its authority as defined in Articles 78 and 79 of the Law on Personal Data Protection.

WE DEMAND: for the UCCS Emergency Centre director and the head of the UCCS Emergency Centre intensive care unit to inform us without delay on the conduct protocols in the intensive care unit.

WE DEMAND: that the President of the UCCS Ethical Committee convene a public meeting without delay and to deliver to the Faculty of Medicine in blockade and the public a written finding and opinion on whether a violation of the Ethics and Business Code occurred on 17 March 2025 by allowing unauthorised persons into the UCCS Emergency Centre intensive care unit.

WE DEMAND: that the Ombudsman, in accordance with Article 27 of the Law on the Ombudsman, conduct a work control procedure of the USSC Emergency Centre relating to violations of rights in the field of healthcare and the endangerment of health and life of patients on 17March 2025.