Why A Grieving Serbian Mother Is On Hunger Strike Since 16 Days

A grieving Serbian mother reached her 16th day of a hunger strike Monday, becoming a new focal point of the country's rumbling protest movement even as fears grow for her health. 

Dijana Hrka, who has been taken to hospital twice in recent days, began her strike after tens of thousands of people gathered to mark the first anniversary of the fatal roof collapse which sparked the movement.

Her son Stefan, aged 27, was among the 16 killed in the collapse at a railway station in the city of Novi Sad.

Hrka, 48, has pledged to continue refusing food "until justice is served."

Wearing a mask, her legs covered with a fleece blanket, and seated in a wheelchair, she told media last week that she will not back down.

"This could be fatal for me, but if it is, perhaps it will be beneficial for you in the future," she said.

"The prosecutor's office must start doing its job, the students must be released, and of course, elections must be held."

Students, university professors and opposition politicians have rallied to support her as she camps in a tent just a few meters (feet) from parliament.

Veterans, who have provided security at student protests throughout the movement, have been guarding her day and night, while other tents have sprung up nearby. 

Meanwhile, a pro-government camp which has blocked a park and a major road outside parliament for months hosts gatherings and plays loud music. 

Local and domestic press have flocked to interview Hrka, but as her strike dragged into weeks, she says she is now too weak to speak.

She has returned quickly to her tent after each hospital visit, and has told media that she is still drinking water and fluids.

The protest movement has so far avoided allowing individual leaders to emerge, preferring collective decision-making. 

But Hrka, who has attended countless demonstrations alongside the students, has embraced her role as a mother figure to the protest movement.

In an AFP interview, marking the six-month anniversary in May, she said the students "took to the streets and are fighting, in a way, in my name, they are fighting for me".

"So, I stand with these children, and I will always stand with them."

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