The High Court in Novi Sad has returned the investigation into the collapse of the railway station canopy to the local prosecutor's office. This removes procedural obstacles and opens the way for the investigation to be resumed.

On July 4, the court rejected all requests by the defendants and their defense attorneys to exclude certain evidence from the case and conduct new procedural actions.

On December 30 last year, the Novi Sad prosecutor's office filed charges against 13 people, including former Minister of Transport Goran Vesic, his assistant in the ministry Anita Dimoski, and the former director of the Serbian Railways Infrastructure, Jelena Tanaskovic. They, along with former director Nebojsa Šurlan, are charged with a serious crime against public security.

All defendants have been released from custody. Vesic resigned as minister a few days after the tragedy.

Meanwhile, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime is also conducting a preliminary investigation into the case related to the financing of the Novi Sad railway station renovation project.

The canopy collapsed just four months after the grand opening of the renovated building, which was attended by high-ranking officials. The incident sparked mass protests across Serbia against Aleksandar Vučić's regime, with demands for political and criminal accountability for the deaths. | BGNES