Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) passed a motion of solidarity with Serbian students at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
The motion mandates that the union president along with other representatives raise awareness of the ongoing protests and urge College to issue a “formal message of solidarity with Serbian students, professors, and the governing body of the University of Belgrade”.
It further mandates the union to request that the Applications and Admissions team and Trinity Global Engagement ensure that future prospective postgraduate and exchange students from Serbia are not disadvantaged during the selection process, in the event that the ongoing situation results in a prolonged duration of study in Serbia.
The motion comes as student-led anti-government protests in Serbia reach their fourth month. The protests, which began last December following a roof collapse which killed 15 people at a train station in the country’s second largest city, Novi Sad, have been met with heavy government repression and violence.
The protesters are demanding that full accountability for the tragic incident be taken, including the publishing of documents relating to the reconstruction of the Novi Sad railway station.
They also demand the dismissal of criminal charges brought against protesters, the initiation of criminal proceedings against individuals who assaulted students, and a 20% to the countries higher education budget
The motion, proposed by class representative Jovan Jeromela and seconded by TCDSU President Jenny Maguire, recognises that protesting students as “a peaceful grassroots movement who make their decisions in all-students plena, thereby promoting direct democracy and student activism in a country suffering a years-long democratic decline”.
The motion also condemned the use of state violence against protesters including “instances of students being run over by vehicles or being physically assaulted by individuals connected with the ruling party”.
Further, the motion praised the Dean of the University of Belgrade as well as the faculty of other Serbian universities for joining the students in their demands to put an “end to corruption and government violence”.
