Name: Serbian mother on hunger strike, seeking justice for her dead son
Uploaded: 2025-11-14T15:51:27.902Z
Duration: 3 min 7 s
Description: Dijana Hrka, whose son was killed when the canopy at the entrance to Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, has gone on hunger strike in Belgrade, seeking justice for her son.

Dijana Hrka, whose son was killed when the canopy at the entrance to Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, has gone on hunger strike in Belgrade, seeking justice for her son.

Belgrade

Diana Hrka, the mother of a 27-year-old man killed in a concrete canopy collapse at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024, has been on hunger strike for over ten days outside the Serbian parliament in Belgrade. She is demanding justice for her son and the 15 others who died, citing failures by police and prosecutors to hold anyone accountable for the tragedy.

Hrka has submitted three demands to authorities: prosecution of those responsible for the collapse, release of students arrested during protests, and early elections called by the president. Despite intimidation from supporters of President Aleksandar Vučić nearby, Hrka continues her protest, receiving daily support from the public and expressing hope that no other mother will face similar suffering.

Serbian mother on hunger strike, seeking justice for her dead son

Diana Hrka is the mother of a young man who died at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024. She went on hunger strike over 10 days ago. Talk to you tomorrow were the last words she said to her 27-year-old son Stefan in a phone call. The next day, he was killed when a concrete canopy weighing several hundred tonnes collapsed while he was waiting outside the railway station. Now, Hrka is camped outside the Serbian parliament in Belgrade on hunger strike and demanding justice for her son and for the 15 other people who died that day. November 1st last year was the saddest and will remain the saddest in my life. Everything changed then. My life changed. Everything around me changed. My son Stefan died under the rubble. 16 of them died. A year full of pain, suffering and struggle. No one was prosecuted for the attack. Not everyone was heard. A lot of things were not done properly. The police did not do their job. The prosecution did not do their job. When I realised that this was going to get worse, I knew that I had to do something. I did not hesitate. Hrka has submitted three demands to the authorities. Firstly, that all those responsible for the canopy collapse be questioned and prosecuted. Secondly, that all students who have been arrested during protests over the past year be released from custody. And thirdly, that the president of Serbia call early elections. Just a few hundred metres from where she is on hunger strike, supporters of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić have set up camp and are guarded by the police. They play folk and patriotic songs on loudspeakers at night. Hrka says they do it to intimidate her. She blames one man for what happened in Novi Sad last November. President Aleksandar Vučić. I think that this is a personal matter between me and Aleksandar Vučić. He should look at it on a personal level. Because if a ruler, as he thinks he is a ruler, thinks that we are his private property, I recommend him that I am not his private property. I am my own property and this people does not belong to him. He has to know. He cannot buy anyone from this people. He can buy his own children, but he cannot buy us. The tent has become Hrka's new home. People come in large numbers every day to show their support. She calls them her second family. She says that while nothing can bring back her child, she hopes that no other mother will ever have to suffer what she has suffered.

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