New economy: On the day of the fall, material fell around the canopy

A few days after November 1st tragedy, the employee of "Srbijavoz" at the station in Novi Sad, Goran Dodić addressed Igor Stanković, the commander Police branches for railway safety, writes Filip Rudić u The new economy.

"He told me that he had information that the cashiers who were engaged in the counter hall in wing B on November 1, 2024, had several complaints from citizens, i.e. passengers, who, when buying tickets, indicated that some material in the form of gravel was falling from the top of the building where the canopy was," Stanković stated before the prosecutor in Novi Sad in December.

Dodić, the head of the Novi Sad Train Towing Section in "Srbijavoz", said that he got this information in a conversation with the workers after the accident, Stanković testified.

He also stated that Dodić told him that two "visibly upset" cashiers, Mirjana Mitić and Suzana Vidaković, received a report from citizens that something was falling from the space on the roof above the canopy, and pointed this out to their bosses.

"In addition, he pointed out to me that after the fifth report by the citizens, Veselin Simović, who is the head of the section, came down and that on that occasion he cursed, in the sense of what is being reported now when there is nothing," Stanković said, according to the statement that Nova Ekonomija had access to.

At that moment, Simović was the head of the Section for Traffic Affairs in Novi Sad, employed by AD Infrastruktura železnice Srbije.

Stanković also said that Goran Dodić asked him not to reveal that he had learned this information from him, telling him that he could "get busy at work".

"He told me, 'You know what Simovic is like,'" the policeman said.

When asked by one of the defense attorneys, Stanković said that his own cooperation with Simović "was not at a good level" because the head of the section "had a somewhat arrogant attitude and did not want to accept suggestions and remarks, he would generally react quite vainly and with some restraint."

Stanković also said that he reported all the information he heard from Dodić to his chief and made an operational report.

15 people died in the fall of the canopy. If the main entrance had been closed in time on November 1 (assuming that police officer Stanković's statements are correct), the canopy might have collapsed onto the empty sidewalk and the tragedy would have been avoided.

However, other testimonies contradicted his statement.

What workers and bosses say

Goran Dodić testified the day after Stanković, but then he said that he had no knowledge that someone "indicated to the employees of the Novi Sad Railway Station that something was being heard from the direction of the canopy or that something was falling".

"The only thing I can say is that a few days after the unfortunate event of November 1, 2024, there was talk in the company circle that there were complaints that something seemed to fall from the roof," Dodić states in the minutes, which Nova ekonomija had access to.

He said that he heard this from an employee at the railway station in Novi Sad.

"Apart from what I have stated, I have not heard anything else," claimed Dodić.

When asked by the prosecutor if he had conveyed this to anyone, Dodić said that he had communicated everything to the commander of the Police Station for Railway Traffic Safety (Stanković).

However, he denied that he had mentioned "any names of employees who might have some knowledge."

"I just told him that it was being talked about around the company," claimed Dodić.

Other interviewed workers at the Railway Station denied that any of the passengers had addressed them with warnings on November 1.

Their testimonies not only conflict with the testimony of police officer Stanković, but it is not clear who spread the stories "around the company" as Goran Dodić said, since they all denied knowing that anyone had complained, not only to them personally, but also to their colleagues.

These allegations were also denied by the two cashiers mentioned in Stanković's statement - Mirjana Mitić and Suzana Vidaković.

"Nobody addressed me personally, nor do I have any knowledge of whether anyone addressed my colleagues in this regard," Mitic said, according to the minutes of her testimony.

Suzana Vidaković denied that she was at work at all on the day of the accident, but had already worked the shift until midnight the previous day.

She also said that no one spoke to her, nor that she heard that someone spoke to other employees.

"I didn't even notice that anything was being heard from the direction of the canopy or that something was falling," said Vidaković.

New economy unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with Mitić and Vidaković through phone numbers known to the newsroom.

Apart from the two of them, the prosecution questioned 10 more employees at the Railway Station, including the head of the Section, Veselin Simović, and all denied knowledge that anyone had complained about the canopy.

"No one ever indicated the possibility of the canopy falling." Specifically, I passed under that canopy at least 20 times a day," said Simović.

He refused to speak for the New Economy, instructing us to seek answers through the Railway Infrastructure of Serbia.

"You have to go through the company. Goodbye," said Simović briefly.

Lawyer Vladimir Tupanjac says that when there are diametrically opposed testimonies, then there are grounds for suspicion that one of those persons committed the criminal offense of giving a false testimony.

According to the Criminal Code of Serbia, if a false statement is given in criminal proceedings, the perpetrator will be punished with imprisonment from three months to five years, explains Tupanjac.

"If evidence were to emerge that a third party influenced a witness to testify falsely in a criminal proceeding, the prosecutor could initiate proceedings against that person for the criminal offense of preventing and obstructing evidence," he adds.

This criminal offense is punishable by six months to five years, according to the Criminal Code.

Female workers deleted from the witness list?

Officer Stanković presented other details from the conversation with Goran Dodić before the prosecutor.

Stanković says that he learned from Dodić that the list of employed cashiers should have been submitted to the prosecution, but that the list that was sent did not include all cashiers, and that Dodić has information that Mirjana Mitić and Suzana Vidaković were not questioned at that time.

Stanković also said that he did not know who made the list of cashiers and who possibly gave the order to revise the list.

He claimed that he heard from Dodić that Mitić and Vidaković "most likely were not heard because there is an assumption that they were not even listed."

"I don't know if those two specific witnesses were removed from the list, and if so, why," said Stanković.

Nova ekonomija asked Igor Stanković for a comment, but he said he could not speak without permission from the Novi Sad Police Department. We asked for permission to talk, but it was not granted until the publication of this text.

During the questioning of Goran Dodić, the day after the questioning of Stanković, the prosecutor asked if he was aware that a list of cashiers had been submitted to the police or the prosecutor's office.

"My colleague Žarko Simović only asked me if someone had informed me that I should submit a list of my train traction employees who worked on November 1, 2024. "I have no knowledge whether a list of other employees was requested, but the list of my employees was not requested," claimed Dodić.

When asked by one of the lawyers, he said that he knew Mirjana Mitić and Suzana Vidaković from sight, but that they never told him that something was heard or falling around the canopy.

"They have never addressed me on this occasion, nor any other," said Dodić.

New Economy tried to get in touch with Dodić, but he did not answer the phone number known to the editorial office.