The state violated the right to life of 17 of its citizens – Authored text by a member of the Inquiry Commission, Professor Tanasije Marinković

Radar, October 2025

Link to the original article: https://radar.nova.rs/drustvo/tanasije-marinkovic-drzava-pravo-na-zivot/

The investigation by the Higher Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad has been compromised by controversies regarding the expert assessment of the cause of the canopy collapse, the investigation by the Higher Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade is directly aimed at obstruction of justice, while the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime fails to investigate the existence of an organized criminal group, which there are grounds for suspecting was organized by the President of the Republic and which caused damage to the state for around 700 million euros.

The Inquiry Commission for Determining Responsibility for the Collapse of the Railway Station Canopy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, concluded that the state of Serbia violated the right to life of 17 of its citizens, 16 of whom died. The state is responsible for this because it has not established a legal framework that would prevent such risks, which has been undermining standards in construction for years and systematically avoiding public procurement in international contracts, which indicates possible corruption, said a member of the Inquiry Commission, Professor of the Faculty of Law Tanasije Marinković , presenting its final report at a press conference on October 15.

The Republic of Serbia has failed to fully establish a legal and administrative framework that effectively prevents violations of the right to life, and in particular to take appropriate regulatory measures, adapted to the specificities of the activity in question, such as construction and building as a hazardous activity and dangerous thing, with particular concern for the degree of possible risk to human life.

The day before the Inquiry Commission will present its final report to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Radar publishes an author’s text in which Professor Marinković explains in more detail the state’s failures, which is why the Inquiry Commission concluded that the canopy collapse was the result of the actions of an associated criminal group and that there are grounds for suspicion that the President of Serbia is at the head of that criminal group, which is why he publicly called on the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime to expand the investigation and to question some of Aleksandar Vučić’s associates as witnesses, and some as suspects.

Dangerous work without proper supervision

The Republic of Serbia has implemented the right to life in its substantial aspect, namely:

1) By constantly lowering construction standards in the Law on Planning and Construction over a number of years, and by exempting from the application of the Law on Public Procurement in Annex No. 2 of the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation in the Field of Infrastructure between the Republic of Serbia and the People’s Republic of China (2013) and in the Commercial Agreement on the Modernization and Reconstruction of the Hungarian-Serbian Railway Connection (2018).

The Republic of Serbia has thus failed to fully establish a legal and administrative framework that effectively prevents violations of the right to life, and in particular to take appropriate regulatory measures, adapted to the specificities of the activity in question, such as construction and building as a hazardous activity and dangerous thing, with particular concern for the degree of possible risk to human life.

2) Neglecting the Public Property Law, over a number of years, in relation to the obligation to maintain the Novi Sad Railway Station building, the Planning and Construction Law in relation to the preparation and control of technical documentation relating to the modernization and reconstruction of the Hungarian-Serbian railway connection, and in particular with regard to the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, the reconstruction itself and its inspection supervision, as well as the Public Procurement Law, as a result of which it cannot be established that the contractors, subcontractors and sub-subcontractors had the necessary professional qualifications, capacities and licenses to carry out the (re)construction works for which they were engaged.

The Republic of Serbia has thus failed to implement those areas of its legal and administrative framework that theoretically effectively prevent violations of the right to life, relating to the licensing, establishment, operation and safety of activities considered hazardous, as well as their supervision, and to compel all parties to take practical measures to provide effective protection to citizens whose lives could be endangered by these hazards.

3) Non-transparent engagement of contractors, subcontractors and sub-subcontractors who reconstructed the Novi Sad Railway Station, and disregard for the findings of investigative journalists and non-governmental organizations that pointed to construction and corruption problems (which are linked to the President of the Republic, his cabinet and other high-ranking public officials) in terms of the modernization and reconstruction of the Hungarian-Serbian railway connection, including the Novi Sad Railway Station, or even obstructing the work of these journalists and organizations, while at the same time engaging public and private broadcasting services with a national frequency in manipulating the citizens of Serbia when it comes to the quality and safety of the reconstructed Novi Sad Railway Station, all contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, the Law on Public Procurement, the Law on Public Information, the Law on Electronic Media, the Law on Access to Information of Public Importance and the Law on Prevention of Corruption .

The state enabled the non-transparent engagement of contractors, subcontractors and sub-subcontractors who reconstructed the Novi Sad Railway Station, and refused to investigate all allegations of construction and corruption problems, which are linked to the President of the Republic, his cabinet and other high-ranking public officials.

The Republic of Serbia has thus failed to fulfil its positive obligation to ensure access to key information that enables individuals to assess the risks to their health and life, an obligation which, in the context of hazardous activities such as construction, also includes the duty to provide such information.

Different treatment of suspects

The Republic of Serbia violated the right to life in its procedural aspect:

1) By conducting three different public prosecutorial investigations – conducted by the High Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, the High Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade (special department for combating corruption) and the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime – of which the one conducted by the High Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad is compromised by controversies regarding the expert assessment of the causes of the collapse of the Railway Station canopy in Novi Sad, the one conducted by the High Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade is directly aimed at obstruction of justice (which the other two investigations are at least ostensibly trying to achieve), while the one conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime fails to investigate the existence of an “organized criminal group” (Article 346 of the Criminal Code), for which there are grounds for suspicion that it was organized by the President of the Republic, that it damaged the Republic of Serbia by around 700 million euros and that it is at the core of the chain of events that led to the collapse of the canopy.

A special form of obstruction of justice is the disbandment of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Task Force for Organized Crime , i.e. the withdrawal of consent from state bodies and agencies for the participation of their experts in it. In doing so, the Republic of Serbia failed to: a) establish the entirety of the circumstances that led to the unfortunate event and all the shortcomings in the functioning of the legal and administrative framework; and, b) establish who the state officials and authorities were who were involved in the chain of events in question.

2) By determining measures to ensure the presence of the defendants, by making distinctions between them that are not based on the Criminal Procedure Code, and which may be of importance not only for the impartiality but also for the effectiveness of the investigation, so that in the proceedings conducted by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, ten suspected civil engineers were detained, two public officials, one of whom is the first defendant in this case, were ordered to stay at home, and the second defendant, the former Minister of Construction, was allowed to defend himself from freedom, while in the proceedings conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime, all 13 defendants were initially ordered to stay at home, and then two defendants, the co-owner and founder of the company subcontractors at the Novi Sad Railway Station, were allowed to defend themselves from freedom.

Justice has been continuously obstructed by holders of the highest public offices and tabloid electronic media, by spreading falsehoods that the collapse of the canopy was the result of a terrorist act or that the Order to Conduct an Investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime is a form of coup d’état.

The Republic of Serbia has thus failed to ensure a fair, comprehensive and impartial public prosecutor’s investigation that meets minimum standards of efficiency and in which there are conditions to determine measures for the unhindered conduct of criminal proceedings as required by the needs of justice.

3) By tolerating or even orchestrating hate speech, on national channels, against the acting prosecutor in the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad, and especially against the Chief Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and the judge of the Special Department of the High Court in Belgrade, who ordered the detention of all defendants in the proceedings before the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime. To this should be added the constant obstruction of justice by the holders of the highest public offices and tabloid electronic media by spreading falsehoods that the collapse of the canopy was the result of a terrorist act or that the Order for the Investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime was a form of coup d’état. Thus, the Republic of Serbia has failed to ensure an atmosphere in the media and society in which the competent judicial authorities could perform their public function professionally, impartially, responsibly and without fear.

Tomorrow: Authored text by members of the Media Subcommittee Dubravka Valić Nedeljković and Zoran Gavrilović