Car Drives Into Student Solidarity March in Backa Palanka

A car drove into a column of citizens who were marching in support of students in Backa Palanka on Sunday evening. According to witnesses, the incident took place at around 10:27 p.m. on the route the participants walk every weekend. Two people were slightly injured.

The driver, witnesses say, first slowed down in front of the column and then suddenly accelerated toward the crowd. Some participants moved out of the way at the last moment. After the impact, the vehicle reversed through the crowd before it was stopped. Traffic police soon arrived at the scene.

The injured received assistance, and police took statements from witnesses and participants. According to one witness, the driver was not taken into custody at the moment of the incident but was instead removed from the scene. No official statement from the authorities on the course of the proceedings has been released so far, so the circumstances under which the vehicle was stopped are yet to be established.

What do witnesses at the scene say?

Dragan Prpa, a march marshal from the Citizens’ Assembly of Backa Palanka, said he signaled the driver to stop. “At one moment he stopped, and then he hit the gas and headed straight at us,” he said. According to him, participants practically had to throw themselves to the ground to avoid the vehicle.

Prpa also claimed that the same driver had attempted to drive into the column the previous weekend as well. That assessment should be treated with caution. It is a claim made by a participant in the gathering, not a fact established or confirmed by the authorities. A member of the Civic Council of Backa Palanka made a similar claim, also stating that the vehicle had approached the column before.

For now there is no official confirmation of the driver’s identity, his motives, or whether the same person was involved on two occasions. No guilt has been established by a final judgment, and how the offense is classified will depend on how the prosecution assesses the collected evidence. Until the proceedings conclude, the driver has the status of a person whose statements and evidence are still being verified.

How the case proceeds after an incident like this

After an event of this kind, police first secure the scene, collect statements, and determine whether anyone was injured. Depending on the findings, the file is forwarded to the competent prosecutor’s office, which decides on the next steps, including a possible traffic expert analysis and the classification of the offense.

The student solidarity marches in Backa Palanka are held regularly and, according to the organizers, have passed without serious incidents so far. That is why this case raises the question of the safety of peaceful civic gatherings, especially on stretches the column passes in the late evening hours.

By the time of publication, the authorities had not disclosed details about any detention of the driver or the legal classification that could be brought against him. Until that is established, witness accounts remain a starting point, but not the final picture of the event.

In your view, how should the safety of participants in peaceful marches be ensured on stretches open to traffic?