11 new arrests over fatal Serbian train station disaster involving 2 Chinese companies
The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on November 1, 2024, in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight.
It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government.
The public prosecutor's office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths.
In February, the public prosecutor's office for organised crime opened another probe into the corruption aspect of the case, leading to Friday's arrests.
The 11 include former construction, transport and infrastructure minister Tomislav Momirovic as well as former acting director of the state-run Serbian Railway Infrastructure company Nebojsa Surlan, prosecutors said.
Another former transport minister, Goran Vesic, who was one of the first to resign after the accident, was wanted in the case but was hospitalised on Thursday, prosecutors said. The Nova.rs news site said Vesic underwent emergency surgery on Friday.
Two companies — China Railway International and China Communications Construction (CRI-CCC) — as well as France's Egis and Hungary's Utiber were in charge of the railway station works.
According to the prosecutor's office, the two former ministers and three other suspects enabled CRI-CCC to charge more than US$1.2 billion for work and then carry out additional work worth more than US$64 million.
This enabled CRI-CCC to obtain an 'illegal financial gain' of more than US$18 million, the statement said.
Since the accident, protests have been growing across Serbia, with some bringing hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to demand a transparent investigation and early elections.
Thousands of people rallied in new protests late Friday in several cities, including the capital Belgrade, to commemorate nine months since the accident.
'It's a fight against the system, for which human lives are worth less than the amounts thrown around in the public tenders,' one student taking part in a demonstration in the city of Novi Sad said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine
A top aide to US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused India of effectively financing Russia's war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow, after the US leader escalated pressure on New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil. Advertisement 'What he [Trump] said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,' said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Trump's most influential aides. Miller's criticism was some of the strongest yet by the Trump administration about one of the United States' major partners in the Indo-Pacific. 'People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That's an astonishing fact,' Miller said on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures programme. The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday that New Delhi will keep buying oil from Moscow despite US threats. Advertisement
HKFP
7 hours ago
- HKFP
China and Russia start joint drills in Sea of Japan
China and Russia began joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan on Sunday as they seek to reinforce their partnership and counterbalance what they see as a US-led global order. Alongside economic and political ties, Moscow and Beijing have strengthened their military cooperation in recent years, and their relations have deepened since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The 'Joint Sea-2025' exercises kicked off in waters near the Russian port of Vladivostok and would last for three days, China's defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The two sides will hold 'submarine rescue, joint anti-submarine, air defence and anti-missile operations, and maritime combat'. Four Chinese vessels, including guided-missile destroyers Shaoxing and Urumqi, are participating in the exercises alongside Russian ships, the ministry said. After the drills, the two countries will conduct naval patrols in 'relevant waters of the Pacific'. China and Russia have carried out annual drills for several years, with the 'Joint Sea' exercises beginning in 2012. Last year's drills were held along China's southern coast. The Chinese defence ministry said Friday that this year's exercises were aimed at 'further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership' of the two countries. China has never denounced Russia's more than three-year war nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine's allies, including the United States, believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow. China insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
South China Morning Post
14 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
India risks Trump's tariffs as oil refiners may still buy Russian
India has not given the country's oil refiners instructions to stop buying Russian oil, according to people familiar with the matter, as officials grapple with meeting energy needs and maintaining ties with Moscow without further angering US President Donald Trump. Advertisement No decision has been taken as yet on stopping imports from Russia , the people said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Both state-run and private refiners are allowed to buy from their preferred sources, and crude purchases remain a commercial decision made by them, several of the people said. Trump blasted India on Wednesday for continuing to purchase most of its military equipment and energy from Russia. The US leader imposed a surprise 25 per cent tariff on India and threatened an additional penalty for its close ties with Moscow. Two days later, Trump told reporters he 'heard' India would no longer be buying oil from Russia, calling it 'a good step.' India has maintained its energy purchases are driven by market forces and price. Last week, refiners were told to come up with plans for buying non-Russian crude, people familiar said to reporters. The government asked state-owned processors to prepare an outline of where alternate barrels can be sourced and at what volume if Russian flows get stopped, they said. One of the people said the instruction amounted to scenario planning in case Russian crude were to become unavailable. An Indian fisherman sails over the Ennore Creek covered with an oil spill after Cyclone Michaung, in Chennai, India, December 11, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE US media reported on Saturday that India will keep buying Russian crude despite a threat of penalties from Trump, citing two senior Indian officials it did not identify.
