Former Serbian Trade Minister Tomislav Momirović was arrested on Friday for his role in the reconstruction of a railway station that collapsed last November, killing 16 people.
Serbia’s Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime ordered the arrest of Momirović and 10 other suspects implicated in the disaster at the Novi Sad railway station. Investigators believe the station canopy’s collapse was attributable to corruption and lax oversight of construction projects.
Built in 1964, Novi Sad’s railway station underwent renovations carried out with partial support from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s global infrastructure development and diplomacy scheme.
According to a statement issued by Serbian prosecutors, Momirović and other suspects arrested on Friday are believed to have artificially inflated invoices issued by the two Chinese companies that carried out the station’s revamp.
Prosecutors allege the corrupt practices resulted in the loss of $115.6 million in public funds, and that the Chinese consortium overseeing the renovation obtained at least $18.8 million in benefits by inflating its invoices.
The arrests follow last December’s indictment of 13 people, among them former Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Goran Vesić, for “serious offenses against public safety” and “irregular and improper construction works.”
Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vučić, maintains that everyone implicated in the disaster must be held to account, but he has struggled to contain the mass protests that have been held since the disaster.
Despite arrest campaigns aimed at dissuading the public from taking to the streets, thousands continue to turn out for events across the country at which calls for early elections are increasing.
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